


Clarke's Leon

by Ursa_99



Series: Clarke's Leon [1]
Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, OOC, Octavia Ships It, Season/Series 01, Shifters, Some what cannon moments, Were-Creatures, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-06-07 09:53:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 62,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15216581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ursa_99/pseuds/Ursa_99
Summary: Everyone has a beast inside them that reflects an individual's character. But you can lose control of them fast, that's why it's not uncommon to see the mad get floated. Now that Clarke and the 100 are being sent down to Earth, will they be able to coexist with their beasts, or will they fall into madness and become one themselves. Who are the beasts that roam the Earth? Will Clarke and company survive? Or will they all fall into madness.





	1. Caged

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the 100, I just really love the series. This piece is also inspired by the many werewolf-AU pieces.

Clark drew the winding river between her trees as her mind ran its own course. There isn’t much else to do in solitary, she knew that well enough.

Five generations and humans have stayed in the Ark, four since it was possible to return to Earth. Home.

Four generations of humans wasting away in space. The views nice, don’t get me wrong; but, there’s an irony to how those long past longed to reach the starts, something that was unattainable to them. Now it’s us who have lived in the vacuum of space surrounded by billions of stars, and yet we are longing for Earth, the thing that is unattainable to us. Perspective is something else, maybe he sits next to Hindsight and Karma.

Letting out a long-winded sigh, Clark moved onto her haunches to get a better look at her most recent sketch, one of the dozens that conceal the walls around her.

Lions, wolves, bears, and many more animals lay hidden in her drawings. A head sticking up here, a tail there, a set of eyes looking back from the underbrush.

Five generations since no one could be free, in all honesty when they moved her to solitary Clarke thought it would feel more restricting, but as she thought more they were all in a big cage that held smaller ones.

She just wished she had her family. Clarke rubbed her father’s watch, the last remaining part of her father she was able to keep, besides the memories. The nightmares.

Clarke gave a rueful laugh, she was scared to be floated, she had no doubt she would once she turned eighteen, can’t have any treasonous personnel right; but even on the slim chance that she would be pardoned, the very minute one, she would still be killed along with the rest of the dying Ark.

Irony again, afraid to die but still welcoming death.

She felt her furry friend slink back and forth on the inside before she barreled against her inner cage. Protesting the acceptance of Clarke’s death sentence.

Clarke hummed, “You’re right girl, if were dying anyway we’ll do it trying to survive”

Her beast gave back her own hum of agreement.

Distracted by her inner self Clarke failed to notice the oncoming footsteps, it was only when her door squeaked on it’s hinges did she whip around and notice the guard.

“Prisoner 319, turn to the wall”

Clarke braced herself ready for a fight, fear surged through her veins. It wasn’t time for executions, well hers at least. Her inner beast was scraping against her cage to be let out.

“I don’t turn eighteen till next month”

Clarke was relieved to feel some strength in her words, despite the growing fear.

“Quiet, hold out your right arm and give me the watch”

“No”

Clarke’s growl echoed in the small chamber in the sky box, fear quickly turned to anger. The ark took my father once, they will not take the last line of connection to him from me.

Clark had a thought of ‘Oh shit’ before she was zapped. Her beast did not take lightly to the threat of taking away her father’s watch, much less an attack on Clarke’s person. Clarke could have sworn she heard the creak of the metaphorical cage that kept her beast enclosed and safe.

The guard reached for his radio, “I request assistance for prisoner 319, she’s being resistant and acting aggressive”

Clarke snorted, aggressive her ass, you try being fried and have your life stolen from you when you were only trying to help. Clarke sighed inwardly, no good dead goes unpunished. There’s also the saying that there’s no rest for the wicked, that saying is becoming all to true at the moment.

Several guards swarmed the room. Reminiscent of when they took Clarke’s father, because of what his beast was. Because of what she is.

The guards kept coming till they willed her tiny room. Till they were forced to flow out of the room like a river of bodies.

It was all precautionary. It had to be, for her, and especially with her beast.


	2. Cage II

Clarke was surrounded, her beast thrashed wildly in her ready to shift in a moments notice if a fight broke out, and it sure as hell looked like it. That was until a worn-down woman pushed through the guards as if they were nothing more than six-foot-tall grass.

“Mom? What’s happening?”

Clarke lunged the small distance between her and her mother, she was to confused and afraid to do much else, and her own beast was feeling the relieving presence of her mother’s own beast.

Clarke’s mother clutched her face until they were eye to eye with no one else in the frame.

“Sweetheart, shush, you’re not being executed. You and the others are being sent to the ground”

Abby saw her daughter clench up for a rebuttal, could even feel it waft off the girl more than the anger her daughter possessed. Abby kissed Clarke’s forehead,

“Your instincts will tell you to take care of everyone else, just like your father…”

Clarke watched as her normally strong mother almost break apart, as if she was watching the rest of her family being floated. In a way, she is.

“I can’t lose you, too”

Clarke was going to protest when she felt a sharp prick, looking down she saw her mother pull back a needle. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her mother sedating her, but her beast sure as hell didn’t like it going by the roars of betrayal. Clarke could have sworn that she heard her mother’s own beast call out in a sorrowful echo before she was chased into the blackness.

When she woke Clarke’s first instinct was to wince, the second was to rip the throat out of the traitor close to her.

“You okay—”

“The hell you doing here!”

Well’s flinched back from the irate blonde and put his hands up to placate the fiery sun that he swore would burn anything if it touched her.

“Look, I found out that you guys were being sent to the ground, I got myself arrested so I could come with you, Clarke”

Clarke didn’t know how to respond to that, why would he damn himself to an obvious suicide mission; he knew that the Ark was dying, but they still had time. Why chance the death trap?

Jaha came on the screens that littered their ship, cage, well more like coffin. The man said what he needed about they were expendable, but hey! At least our crimes are forgiven on the slim chance that we actually survive.

The cries of the kids rose again, this time though it was because a boy was being a dumbass. Clarke saw him unclip himself from his seat and move to her and Wells.

“The traitor form solitary”

Clarke snorted, “Dumbass space walker who wasted a month of oxygen”

The boy smiled, “I’m Finn”

Wells interrupted, “Nice to meet you Finn, but you might want to be in your seat when parachutes are sent out. Physics has no mercy”

A random kid threw a shoe at Wells but it ended up hitting Finn in the back of the head.

“Neither does your father”

Clarke could hear the microscopic stress screams of the metal that enclosed them, she knew to trust her instincts and they told her that things were going to go south fast.

“Everyone in your seats. NOW!” Clarke commanded, her beast was going wild inside, but what confused Clarke was that it wasn’t trying to get out, she could feel the pacing under her skin; yet, it seemed like her beast was forcing herself to stay close to the surface next to Clarke instead of tucked deep into her soul.

Both human and beast knew that death isn’t a taker, that life is, and life is taking them to the front door of death’s palace.

“Like we’d listen to you royals”

Laughing filled the hull of the ship, each kid with a mark against them or their family chimed in.

“Devil’s brew”

“Royal bastards”

“Prime Supply”

Clarke wanted to rip all their throats out, but they were seriously going to die if the few that followed Finn didn’t get back in their seats.

She looked at Wells who shared the same look of irritation and concern. Clarke saw Wells take a deep breath/

“ENOUGH! You will die if you don’t strap in, not because I say so but because gravity doesn’t give a damn”

Laughter was still the main sound heard, but now it was accompanied by a few cheers and some thankful looks directed at Clarke and Wells.

Two others unclipped themselves.

“Sit down if you wish to live”

Another boy flicked her off. At least she tried, several times. Another shake of the container rattled a couple of the kids back into their seats, but there were still a couple who refused.

“You don’t have a damn ounce of power—”

Everything went down when the ship went up, the bodies of the two floating boys collided through some sort of metal polls. The hissing of steam and who knows what else filled Clarke’s ears, like a rattler from the old Ark tapes, this bite wasn’t venomous, but it was just as fatal.

There was a minute of silence, before everyone stormed to the door. Clark could smell the fear and anticipation that was pumped from the kids in front of her.

She also saw the interaction between the brother and his sister, reunited after who knows how long. At least there was one glimmer of happiness in the otherwise hopeless situation.

That was until the brother went to open the door, despite her beast wanting to be let free and herself included, one of them had to keep a head on or more people would be dead. Clarke jumped down,

“Stop, the air could be toxic”

The brother, Bellamy looked at hear with indifference,

“Then were all dead anyway”

Clarke saw something stalking behind his eyes, his own beast probably, and it looked caged and ready to charge. For some reason that seemed to rattle her own up, Clarke could feel her own looking back in challenge, the one she promised not to show to anyone who isn’t family, to keep locked away even on the one night a week when people were aloud to shift so long as no fights broke out; those were the only days a person could be their other half, and she didn’t participate in a single one, it was to dangerous. Not necessarily for her, but for the others; for what she was capable of, for what she is.

Clarke cast her eyes past this Bellamy guy when a shout of “We’re back, bitches!” rung through the clearing, leading her eyes to the lost home of Earth. For the first time in her long-life Clarke felt like she belonged to a home, here on the crusted skin of Earth. Her new home.


	3. Home?

Clarke slinked forward, gliding over the grass, real grass. It was beautiful. Clarke frowned, looking around she saw all the kids yelling and raving, enjoying the lost home of humanity; but something wasn’t right, they weren’t at their drop point.

Wells dropped next to her.

“We got a problem”

Clarke glared at her ex-friend, she wanted to be mad at him, but right now he was right. There were more pressing concerns.

“Communications are shot, destroyed in the crash”

Clarke pulled out a map,

“And, were on the wrong damn mountain, Mount Weather is that way”

Clarke pointed toward the peak in the distance, it was over a dozen, possibly more, miles; it would take more than a day if they don’t act fast or now. Who knows how long they’ll last without food or shelter.

“Cool” A boy with goggles peered over Wells’ shoulder. Clarke’s ex-friend didn’t take to kindly to the lack of space and let out a growl, one that was deep and guttural; one that also brought unwanted attention.

“There a problem”

Wells sized up the elder Blake, but Clarke knew Wells was a pacifist, not a fighter. Her ex-friend gave a big sigh and lightly pushed goggle head out of his space.

“Just trying to find where we are”

Bellamy looked to his left and right before tapping the ground with his toe before curling his lips,

“We’re on the ground, it’s enough isn’t it; we survived, no more Ark, no more royalty in charge. No offence princess”

Clarke glared but didn’t let her beast’s scent out like a certain curly black haired idiot. Clarke stepped forward and jutted her chin out, this Bellamy was a wolf by the scent. And she didn’t give a damn.

“Look our supplies are on that mountain” Goggles and the sister, Octavia, followed her index finger, “We don’t give a damn who’s in charge, but we need those supplies if we are to survive until the Ark gets us more or until they are here”

For a second Clarke thought she saw a flash of begrudging respect fly across the young man’s face before he stepped back into the throng of kids, some already half shifted already. Most were wolves, followed by coyotes in population, a few foxes here or there; those were the main shifter lines that survived in the Ark.

Unfortunately, the kids were already half shifted, or completely shifted to their half shapes if they were halfs or none completes as they are sometimes called, NCs for short. NCs just aren’t able to shift completely into their beast and seem to be stuck looking like werewolves from the old movies, bipedal and a bit on the mangy side most times. No one knows why, some believe it’s when two parents have beasts that are way to different, so a full expression is impossible.

Bellamy held up his arms.

“How bout we let the privileged do the work for once”

Approval yells, yips, and howls ripped through the clearing.

Clarke swore inwardly, she and the rest of the kids already went through an adrenaline producing scenario, if too much goes into there systems they might start going mad; especially since they weren’t slowly acclimated into controlling their beasts, there was no place to run on the Ark. Everyone knows not to keep an animal locked up or they become restless and aggressive, and the Ark has had five generations of pent-up aggression brewing under the surface.

“Look two people can’t carry food for a hundred”

Bellamy came back glaring, but before he could say anything Finn popped into view dragging goggles and a second boy.

“How about four”

Clarke huffed, at least one other person is trying to play peace keeper.

Wells sighed, “that might still not be enough, even if you shift”, he eyed Clarke for a second.

He was the only person to know her beast, he was practically on the receiving end when he was there with his father as they floated her own. It took five guards to surround her to prevent her shift before her mother pushed them away and held her.

That was the closest Clarke was to going mad, it took three minutes for her mother to calm her down between her thrashings. It’s said that if you are mad for longer than five minutes it’s impossible to come back. It doesn’t matter on the Ark though, if you go mad for a second you’re floated, so no one really knows, unless you’re like Clarke and are put into solitary because you’re under eighteen. Clarke was going there either way, be it treason or madness. It was the same.

“How bout five, I’m in for some fun and adventure”

Clarke was drawn from her thoughts as the young Blake stepped into line with Finn and the two other boys.

Bellamy pushed past Wells, whom only rolled his eyes at the brother. Clarke whispered into his ear like when they were little “wolf?”

Wells only grunted out a sigh, “Yup, damn stubborn one at that”

Bellamy grabbed his sister’s shoulder.

“The hell, O? No, I won’t allow it”

Octavia glared at her brother and pushed him off.

“I’ve been locked up since I was born, Bell. I’m not following your orders if it means the same thing for me as it was on that damn Ark”

Clarke watched the muscles in Bellamy’s face go ridged, part of her was gleeful that he was being put down by his younger sister, but Clarke could see the pain and panic of his eyes. She could also tell that things were going to go bad for her little team if anything happens to her.

Bellamy moved toward the three boys accompanying her and Octavia like he read her thoughts, “If she gets so much as a scratch, it’s your balls for breakfast”

“Don’t baby me Bellamy!”

Bellamy ignored his sister and stalked away. Clarke sighed, damn wolves and their drama. Before moving on the older boy pushed her shoulder, but tipped some himself when Clarke stood her ground, easily seeing his passive aggression in play, really it was a child at play for the last word.

Bellamy huffed and glared into her eyes as she did back to him.

“Careful princess”

Clarke had to stop herself from punching the bastard, he was jeopardizing not only their lives but the lives of those who are on the Ark.

She watched the boy stomp away, waiting, and to hell she was pretty childish too. With satisfaction Clarke watched as Bellamy caught the smallest amount of her beast’s scent. Bellamy whirled around, she could see the panic and fear; Clarke knew that it would only cause more problems for later if it set anyone else off, but it was too damn satisfying to see him looking around paranoid trying to spot what gave off the scent. Quickly turning she motioned for the others to follow, one lass look showed him pushing away two boys yelling that “Nothing’s wrong!”

Clarke left the clearing with her little group with a subtle toothy smirk. Two can play his childish game.


	4. Home? II

Clarke’s little group pranced through the forest, distracted quite often at all the different plants growing here and there. Monty who was the companion to Jasper, the goggle boy, would give out intel about what some of the plants were as well as what they were used for on the Ark; it would have been nice to spend the whole day listening and learning to all the different plants, but they had more pressing maters to attend to, plants could wait a couple of days.

Finn hopped over a fallen tree humming, “So, why send us down now after three years less than ten decades?”

Octavia snorted at the boy.

“I’m free and I’m me now, don’t know and don’t care”

“The Ark is dying. Three months is about how long the oxygen will last”

Clarke heard her little group stop, but she continued on forcing them to continue on with her if they ever wanted to know about the Ark.

Finn ran up and trailed no more than two feet behind Clarke.

“So, that’s why you’re a traitor and locked in solitary…and why they floated your father”

Clarke wanted to lash out at the boy, even her beast wanted to slit his throat; she had to dig her nails into the inners of her pockets to keep from both, the abundance of freedom without shifting even once is starting to get to her inner self and her beast is not happy.

Clarke took a deep breath and rubbed her hands in her pockets to ease the claws back in. Not a good sign.

“Look” Clarke hissed out, “My father discovered the problem, he’s an engineer and we were going to tell the people of the Ark when…”

Finn reached to pat her shoulder but stopped short when he heard her low growl, quickly moving his hand away so as not to cause anymore irritation.

“I’m guessing that’s what the fight with the prince was about, isn’t it princess?”

Clarke knew Finn was just curious and really nice, but damn couldn’t he just shut up, she didn’t want a reminder of a traitorous friend at the moment.

Monty came up to her other side.

“There going to have to kill more to sustain the oxygen level, aren’t they?”

Clarke looked to the boy on her right,

“At least we bought them another month or so of oxygen, but then after that it’s floating time. So, yes, you’re right. Which,” Clarke leveled a glare at Finn, “Is why I told you to keep the bracelet on, if they don’t think Earth is sustainable they won’t come down and those we love will die; besides we need the knowledge and tech that the Ark has, or we won’t survive long down here”

Finn put his hands up in surrender before making an ‘X’ over his heart. It was three steps forward and two steps back with the princess when she was irate.

“Whatever you say princess”

Clarke huffed, “Don’t call me princess”

Finn smirked, “Sorry, princess that’s about the only thing I can’t do”

Clarke couldn’t help the annoyed huff that escaped. She turned only to find herself hitting the mass know as Jasper.

“Jasper you really need to—”

“I love this place” he sounded almost stoned but given what he and Monty were caught for it didn’t surprise Clarke one bit.

That was until she saw what Jasper was gawking at: a half-dressed Octavia ready to jump.

“There isn’t supposed to be a river here”

That didn’t deter Octavia from jumping in. Clarke, closely followed by the other boys, ran to see if the younger girl was okay.

Octavia splashed through the water, happy as can be, she waved them in.

“It’s great Come on in”

Monty’s half hearted “We can’t swim” was met with a middle finger salute.

“Don’t be a pup Monty, the water is amazing”

Jasper thumped his friend on the back.

“You heard her, let’s strip”

Clarke took in a deep breath, fresh clean water; god, she didn’t want to leave this place, but they needed to go…

Finn nudged her smirking, a knowing smile was plastered to his face.

“You know we’ve been traveling for several hours and it’s important for rest, so how about an hour”

Clarke squinted at him in amusement, it was sweet of Finn to try to lessen the whole survival or die out look.

“Thirty-five minutes”

“Make it forty-five and I’ll try to help whip them together”

Clarke took his hand and gave a firm handshake that had Finn trying to hide a wince.

“Deal, but if they don’t budge you’re going to have to drag them”

Finn sighed, “deal”

“Octavia! Out of the water! Get out of the water”

Clarke’s head whipped around to Jasper’s distressing call. A wave was coming toward the girl whom looked startled by the boy’s call.

Clarke saw Octavia turn to spy the creature going after her before the younger girl did her best to out swim the creature, but she didn’t have the speed or the practice. The group watched in horror as the younger girl was dragged down.

Jasper prepared to jump in after Octavia when Clarke caught him.

“No, we need to distract it, if you go in more might show or it will take you with it too”

Jasper looked into her eyes, his own were filled with fear and panic, he wasn’t controlling his scent much better. Clarke lightly tapped his cheek and turned him around before looking to Monty and Finn who were still staring at the water.

“Now, you two too!”

Both startled at her command but soon nodded.

“Permission to shift, princess” Jasper called the river side.

Clarke already had a decent sized rock ready to throw with the help of Finn but couldn’t help a grunt at the other boy.

“Use your best judgement. Don’t call me princess!”

Clarke only growled and threw the heavy rock with more anger than strength, causing Finn to almost tip over in to the water himself.

She looked over to see a sheepish Jasper and an awestruck Monty who watched the rock fly a good ten feet instead of the three feet it should have gone. Finn took a step back when her glare passed by him. Clarke really needed to make sure her beast was tucked in and away. She couldn’t let it loose till they got food, and then when she was alone in case she went wild and mad from not letting it out in over a year.

Octavia let out a gasp of breath as she breached the surface. The water creature was distracted by the rocks all right.

“There!” Jasper yanked off his pants before shifting into his inner beast half way, tan with sleek fur with some dark on top and a lot of light on bottom, he was probably from one of the many coyote lineages. Jasper dove into the water.

“Octavia take my hand, paw, the thing attached to my arm”

Clarke heard Octavia spit out water before hissing a “not the time for jokes”

“Octavia! Jasper! Watch out”

The two in the water looked to Monty who was pointing down river, the two in the water looked on before struggling to shore as fast as they could. Clarke and the rest above saw that the water serpent brought back some friends.

Three total of them, a bigger wave. Five humans, they had the advantage…somewhat.

Clarke could smell her own fear now.

“Finn, Monty!” both boys looked to her with ever widening pupils.

“Finn, man rocks and throw them where you’ve been, Monty get those two out of the water”

They nodded, but Monty stopped “What are you going to do?”

Clark looked at him and gave a half shrug, “Something stupid”

Monty was going to argue more when Finn pushed him along. “Princess can handle herself, trust me you don’t want to be on the other side of her throw”

Clarke ran down and along the river bank, “Heard that Finn”

“Not sorry princess—watch out Octavia!”

Both Jasper and Octavia were close to shore, Monty was wading up to his waste five feet from his friend, but one of the serpents came from under them and took Octavia from Jasper’s grasp and under again.

“Octavia!”

Jasper thrashed around trying to look for the girl, Clarke could have laughed when she saw his goggles over his large eyes if it weren’t in such dire circumstances; but in looking for Octavia, Jasper didn’t see the other two serpents rise out of the water behind him. They were worm like monstrosities. It was only when the boy felt his hairs stand on end did he whip his head around just in time for one serpent to push him under followed shortly by the second water monster.

“Clarke! What do we do?!”

Clarke glanced at the boys before took a deep breath, if she messed this up and went mad…stop! Clarke couldn’t think like that. She’s kept her beast’s scent in line for over a year, besides the childish game with Bellamy, so she can keep her beast caged too.

The only problem is she is the beast and the beast is her.

Clarke felt freedom when she was released down here, and she wanted more. And the same would happen with her beast. Once a certain amount of free reign is given to someone it can’t be taken back, and the individual will always fight to keep the new-found freedom, at any cost. Clarke would help the Ark reach down, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be locked up again if the Ark tried to pull a stunt like that. She wouldn’t allow it, her beast even more so.

Clarke felt her hands shift, muscle reattaching and bones fracturing before thickening into a solid shift in just her forearms. So far it was controlled, and Clarke needed to make sure it stayed like that. A strip of blonde fur ran on the outside of her arm, so at least she didn’t completely shift her arms, she wasn’t sure she could stop after this small stage without going full beast.

It hurt like hell though, all she wanted to do was cry. Comparing her shift to Jasper’s it was obvious that he went to the shift meetings or at least did it often when he was locked up. Clarke could remember all the howling and calls that rang through the cells, who said solitary was quiet and peaceful.

“Focus Clarke, focus” she whispered to herself. “One thing at a time”

Clarke released a breath before taking a big one back in. Then she sprinted, leaping last minute of the rocks and into the water.

Calls of “Clarke!” were the last things heard before her head submerged and her senses dulled. Her ears filled with water causing her to hear the dull thudding sound of her blood. To make matters worse it was hard to see, at least the water didn’t sting her eyes.

Something brushed her side, but it either swam away or drifted away to fast for her to tell what it was, and she needed to know because she didn’t want to claw Jasper or Octavia by accident.

Bubbles were rushing to her right, which meant movement, or a lack of breath by struggling prey. Kicking down Clark saw that it was Octavia who looked bluer by the second.

Clarke sunk till she met Octavia’s eyes, faint recognition flashed across, but her eyes were slowly growing dim as the lack of oxygen was taking effect on her body. The creature was wrapped around the younger girl’s torso, trying to drown her. Clarke couldn’t be worried to find the head of the creature, Octavia is what mattered right now. Clarke got closer and made the motion of pinching her nose with one hand and pointing up with her other, the girl in front gave a weak thumbs up for conformation.

Nodding back Clarke waited till the girl pinched her nose before touching for the under belly of the water monster, mostly all hard on all sides, with just one strip about two inches long that had more give than the rest of the body. Well…it was better than nothing.

Clarke lifted up two fingers and brought one down. Octavia pinched her nose tighter and closed one of her eyes completely. Clarke’s last finger went down, and she made a fist before reaching the small strip of skin that acted as a sort of underbelly to these creatures before digging her newly shifted claws along the line that followed probably from the head to the end of whatever she was fighting.

The creature thrashed and released the girl just enough for Octavia to squeeze out. Clarke pushed off the creature with her feet and grabbed Octavia in her upward thrust, giving the girl a boost to the surface.

Octavia broke the surface followed shortly by Clarke.

“Breathe. Shift. Move. Now.”

Octavia nodded at Clarke and took off to the shore followed closely by the blonde.

“Clarke!”

Clarke looked toward Monty, who seemed to be pointing toward the other side of the river.

“Jasper just surfaced but he went under again!”

Clarke didn’t want to leave Octavia who slowed to a sluggish pace, exhaustion evident, but Clarke couldn’t leave Jasper to drown if she could help it.

Octavia looked at her before turning to Jasper’s direction.

Well at least Octavia had a fighting chance, half way shifted the girl looked beautiful with her dark sleek fur glistening from the water, but more importantly she had a pair of good sized claws to cut with. Clarke could definitely tell she was wolf.

Nodding to the dark-haired, girl Clarke swam faster towards the air bubbles. Wasting no time, she dove under, but while one was holding down Jasper the other water serpent seemed to curl around the serpent holding Jasper down. Like the second water monster was a guard dog to the first, to maximize their prey taken. Great.

A blur came to her left and Clarke swung around, thankfully she could stop it before she poked out Octavia’s eye, if only because the water resistance slowed her down.

Clarke pointed to herself and then to the water creature that was acting guard dog, before pointing to Octavia and then at Jasper’s monster before making what she hoped looked like tearing motions.

The younger girl nodded, and both move forward, Clarke lead with a nose dive for the bottom of the river, similarly to the first monster Clarke used her legs and feet to push of the river bottom and into the guarding serpent.

It’s scream vibrated through the water. That felt weird. Clarke wrestled with her creature and she sure as hell hoped this thing only had one head. Her monster thrashed in Clarke’s pathetic attempt of a headlock, throwing the girl down onto the bottom of the river.

She caught a glimpse of Octavia freeing Jasper, both turned to fight the one that still held onto the boy’s leg.

Clarke felt a sharp rip in her shoulder and screamed or tried to. In her concern for the other two Clarke made the mistake of getting distracted, leaving herself open for an attack.

She saw her own bubbles rise to the surface. It must have been the lack of oxygen, but Clarke couldn’t help but look how beautiful water looked from underneath. It was then that Clarke also realized that they must have been dragged into a deeper part of the river; she could stand up and she would still be under water, even Jasper in his shift would still be underwater by a good six inches to a foot.

Well fuck.

The serpent constricted around her waist, bringing Clarke back to what could very much be her death. Clarke felt around for the two-inch stripe that was probably the only weakness to these creatures; but the bastard kept biting her and twisting to escape from her searching digits.

Clarke started seeing black spots in her vision, before she felt claws rake against her sides before gripping into her arms. Two more were digging into the creature with her trying to find the right spot. Looking around Clarke saw that it was Jasper holding her while trying to swim up, and Octavia trying to slice the water creature.

They felt a vibration in the water and they were released as the creature tore away, a faint cloud of red drifted around them. Jasper swam up with her and they breached the surface with Octavia. As the two were greedily taking in air, Clarke had the unfortunate experience of vomiting up water.

“Clarke. Clarke!”

Clarke looked to Jasper who was shaking her, his claws digging deeper into her shoulders. She glanced to Octavia who was shaking in the water and holding onto Jasper’s shoulders. Clarke coughed out another lung full of water, she had to watch and make sure none of them had second hand drowning, or a bout of pneumonia.

What a lovely day.

Clarke looked back at the other two and motioned them forward,

“We need to leave now, they’ll be back with a vengeance”

When the two didn’t move she had to push them away toward the shore. Damn, when she saw how far away they were Clarke feared that they wouldn’t make it, Monty and Finn look like midgets. Worse they couldn’t go to the direct sides of the rivers; sharp rocks of all sizes would slice them in the current that they had to swim in.

The two complied though not without some hesitation. Jasper took the lead with Clarke acting as the rear guard.

The swim was actually very peaceful and rejuvenating, well when they weren’t being drowned anyway. If they could block off the stream so the water creatures couldn’t get in then it would be a nice place to swim.

“Jasper! Octavia! You’re okay”

“Don’t frown princess”

Monty went back and waded into the water helping support Jasper take Octavia out of the water, a bite was easily visible on her upper thigh, Clarke made a note to look at it despite the wound already starting to heal, infection was a real possibility and so was poison if the creatures were venomous.

Clarke sat on a submerged outcropping to take in her surroundings. Looks like they would have more problems than just shelter and food to worry about, if any of the other animals were half as aggressive as those worm creatures.

Clarke looked at her forearms, claws etched in blood and she could smell it. And her stomach called for more, for food. Her beast growled in approval, it wanted more blood, more freedom. It wanted out. Two days, that’s all she needed. Two days, one to get the food and bring it back and then she can slip off for a while.

She got another whiff of blood, this time her own. Clarke saw the marks of Jasper’s claws as he tried to pry her from the water monster’s grip, there were lacerations that were almost completely healed that were most likely from the scales or something similar on the water worm. Lastly there was the multiple bites on her back, she couldn’t see how deep they were, but if they were anything like Octavia’s then they would last for some time.

“Hey, earth to Clarke. You okay?”

Clarke looked up to her little group, they were all climbing up the embankment, Octavia was being supported by the two boys, but all were looking at her. She caught Octavia and Jasper’s eye after a once over of their persons.

“You guys will be okay”

The two nodded.

“Thank you, Clarke, do you need help getting up”

The blond looked at Jasper who handed of Octavia to Monty, but Clarke stopped him with a shake of her head.

“It’s fine just catching some breath”

He nodded but didn’t turn back. He gave a smile filled with sharp teeth, “is the water nice”

Clarke laughed and threw some water at him, “Yes, it very much is, if we can dam it so there aren’t any water monsters lurking then this place would be a nice swimming pool. It’s a bit far though”

Jasper laughed and kicked some water back at her with his feet.

Clarke heled up her clawed hands with a smile, “Hey that not nice—!”

Clarke froze, the hairs all along her neck and arms stood on end.

“Out of the water”

Jasper didn’t argue and ran as fast as he could in waste deep water toward Monty and Octavia catching them off guard.

“Wha—Jasper!”

Clarke surged up after but gritted out a hiss, her right leg was black and blue, she could only hope nothing was broken underneath. The only question is: did she get it from constriction or from being hit on the river bottom?

“CLARKE!”

Clarke saw Finn running over the rocky embankment to the water’s edge, Monty and Jasper made it to the dry shore and turned with Octavia, all of them looked scared shitless. She felt water drop onto her from above.

Oh shi—t.

Clarke dug her claws into the rocks hoping for any kind of leverage or purchase on the slippery stones. She was about to be in hell and high water.

She growled at her friends that were moving back into the water.

“NO! Get out, now! Don’t come in—”

Clarke was cut off when the three water serpents rammed into her and dragged her back into the water. Her hold on the rocks were broken instantly, to slippery for any hold. She broke the surface for half a second and took in the biggest breath that her hampered lungs were allowed before she was pulled back under.

“God…”

“Clarke!” Octavia tried moving back into the water but was dragged back by Jasper and Monty.

“Let go we have to—”

“No”

“Fuck you Finn, she wouldn’t stay down and let us drown”

Finn pulled her into a hug, her canines just inches from his jugular.

“She also wouldn’t allow for you to go back in just to kill yourself trying to save her”

Monty pushed forward.

“So, we let her be the martyr?”

Finn shook his head.

“No, we wait for the next time she breaks the surface and then we throw rock at the bastards while she can make an escape”

“It’s too late for that”

Finn turned on Jasper who was sitting on his haunches with ears down.

“You going to give up on Clarke?”

But Jasper didn’t snap back, he just pointed a furry curled hand toward the water.

A red bloom was overtaking the river and getting bigger by the second.

Blood was truly in the water now.


	5. Home? III

Clarke thrashed around. Fear, desperation, anger, it doesn’t matter she was losing it. Her beast has waited long enough. Her beast was the perfect predator, waiting for the right opportunity.

She felt her beast call out to her for acceptance, for permission, and rammed into her inner cage. Her beast was a persistent one, but that only reflected her own personality.

The three water worms were attacking her and dragging her farther toward the deepest part of the river.

Clarke hit a rock with her forehead, it took most of what she had left to not go under into the blanket of semi consciousness.

More anger and more fear rushed her. Clarke figured it was better to mad than to be dead.  Her beast purred, and Clarke felt her body shifting, two parts of one soul coming together, by tearing the body apart.

Clarke couldn’t believe she thought her arms shifting was horrible, compare that to her whole body her arms shifting felt like a small pinch.

Clarke could feel herself get bigger and longer, each micro inch felt like a scratch dipped in boiling acid before being chilled in lemon juice. She remembered her beast roaring, or was it her? Clarke saw one of the worms going strait for her face when she blacked out.

Finn and the rest of the group watched the water turn redder and redder, the worst thoughts filling their heads with each passing second

“Is she…”

Finn shook his head at Monty.

“She can’t be”

“Look at the blood”

Octavia pushed in between the two boys who moved to a standoff.

“We don’t know for sure it’s hers”

Her voice didn’t sound confident.

The four of them looked back at the smooth water.

“There’s no air coming up…”

“Don’t think like that Jasper”

“The hell are we supposed to do huh! Just walk back to camp like nothing happened or continue on to Mount hell Weather!”

“I don’t know—”

“Look!”

The three boys followed Octavia’s arm. The water was moving again, like it was boiling.

“What the—?"

Something big was breaching the surface. Something blonde.

A snarl filled the air and echoed through the forest, all noise seemed to stop besides the sounds of the river. And the screams of the worms.

“My God…is that Clarke?”

Finn scrutinized the fourth creature that was obviously not a water worm. It had to be.

“It is”

They stood stunned, rooted in place. Clarke was ripping those monsters apart far down stream, their guts falling over her blonde fur. Two were constricting the beast that is Clarke, the third was circling waiting for an opening. Several claw marks could be seen on the worm creatures.

Monty put a hand to shade his eyes.

“What is she?”

Jasper started climbing a tree and peered out.

“Is she a full or a NC?”

“Guys!”

All the boys looked to Octavia.

She pointed to the blood-filled water.

“An opportunity”

Jasper jumped down and got ready to sprint when Finn grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, Finn! We need to help”

“No”

The rest looked at him as if he personally floated their mothers.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me!”

Finn jumped in front of the simmering girl.

“Look at her”, and they did. Clarke had the head of a worm and bit it off the rest of the body before tossing it behind her, and unknowingly in their direction.

“We don’t know if she is mad right now. Plus, she’s at least twice you guys size”

Jasper stepped back from the head that floated closer.

“I think it’s safe to say that she’s a little more than mad man”

Octavia shook her head, her wide eyes traveling to the blood drenched beast in the river. “Jasper he doesn’t mean mad, he means _mad_ as in losing herself to her beast”

Monty huddled closer to his friend, “Like Sammy”

Jasper looked pained. “Oh…”

A blood curdling roar ripped through the area again and all four froze not daring to move. Slowly they turned.

Clarke was raging through the water, clawing at anything that moved. The second worm was smart enough to swim away. Or at least try.

Clarke grabbed it by the tell with one big clawed arm, she then preceded to whip it back and forth in the water. The resounding smacks of scale indicated that if the worm wasn’t already dead, then it would surly die from blunt force trauma.

Octavia crouched down trying to make herself less visible, she didn’t notice that it was her own beast trying to keep her alive until her hands were touching dirt. Similarly, Jasper did the same thing, followed by none shifted Monty and Finn.

“I think you’re right Finn”

The boy shook his head.

“I didn’t want to be”

The four watched Clarke pull the last water worm, that was constricting her torso, off easily as if it was nothing but a belt.

The water worm wiggled as it was held over the beast’s head. Two screams were heard, the worm and the beast. Clarke ripped it in half, as if she was a modified rack. The worm didn’t have strong enough abdominal muscles to keep itself from ripping like a piñata. Only candy didn’t come out, it’s organs did.

Finn gaged, it was a sight all right; he couldn’t tell what she was even before she was covered in blood and guts. He heard the rest gag, one of which was actually vomiting.

“That hurt, so what do we do?”

Monty looked to Finn who looked just as lost.

“Stay out of sight until she calms down”

“If she calms down, don’t you only come back if it’s been less than five minutes in a maddened stat?”

Finn shrugged. No one truly knew, and it was the damn Ark’s fault for not letting people test it out, because it was ‘a threat’ to the rest of the people.

A low rumble was heard.

Looking up they saw that Clarke had spotted them, and she was growling.

“Shit!”

Finn pressed himself lower to the ground, his own coyote telling him the best way out of this was to seem as none threatening as possible.

“Octavia, Jasper, de-shift”

The two looked at him confused.

He hissed at them, “less threatening means we won’t be the next punching bags”

The two quickly nodded and started shrinking down to their normal sizes.

“Now what”

“Get ready to run”

A small quake rippled through the ground. Then again, and again. Each one stronger than the last.

Finn looked around with the rest of his group, this couldn’t be an earth quake, there wasn’t any fault lines on the map.

Octavia swore,

“She’s causing this”

Monty scrunch his eyes in confusion, “But she’s over fifty feet away, at the…”

Jasper grabbed his friend’s shoulder.

“Speak up man”

Monty looked at each other them one at a time.

“The water is darker indicating that it’s deeper, she’s farther out than when you guys were taken, and the water was over you guys’ heads in the half forms. She’s standing up and isn’t close to drowning. She’s that far away and is making this much seismic movement.”

Oh. _Oh._ That wasn’t good if she is mad.

“So, she’s a walking wolf, bear, thingy the size of Godzilla”

“Nice use of words Jasper”

“Shut it, Monty”

Finn didn’t keep his eyes off her, but he sure as hell didn’t try looking at her eyes. No need to accidently challenge something three times the size of you when you’re in half shift.

Finn moved his hand to pat Monty, “So, what do we do?”

The boy gave sight whimper which did pull his gaze from Clarke.

“Hope she doesn’t attack and as you said get ready to run”

“Great,”

Octavia rolled her eyes, if it isn’t the first thing that kills you it’s always something more.

“guess that means were hightailing it now”

Monty frowned, “How about you try fighting Clarke right now?”

The dark-haired girl raised her hands in surrender, knowing it was no less than a slaughter if she even tried.

The four of them slowly started moving in a group back towards their clothes when a deep guttural warning growl was heard.

The group stopped before trying it again. It only elicited another deep growl.

“Great, so if we move were dead, if we don’t move were dead”

“Thanks for the optimism, Jasper”

Octavia turned to Finn, “Now what”

Finn shook his head, he didn’t know what the best course of action was.

“It’s up to princess to come back”

The team looked to one another and sat down waiting for their princess to decide if she wanted to come back…

Clarke came to completely out of her stasis when she was half way back to her group. It felt like a dream, but she knew it wasn’t. She ripped up the worm monsters with her own hands, and a twisted part of her relished in the revenge against the monsters that hurt her and per pride. Her only thoughts were to survive and protect.

Her pride. No, her pride was her mother and father. She had no pride now.

The group was made of people she wouldn’t mind as friends, but they barely knew each other. She didn’t know if she wanted them to become her family, it always seemed they would end up dead or traitorous. Like Wells.

Clarke shook her massive head, regretting it instantly when she felt pain rocket up from all parts of her body. Looking down she saw her reflection, all blood and fur. Clarke would be lying if she said she didn’t feel better from her mad outbreak.

Clarke hit the water with a giant clawed hand. It’s been over a year since she shifted at all, since she’s seen her hand like this; more so since she did a full shift. There wasn’t any room for her to shift in solitary. Basically, she neglected her beast and there for herself for a long time, and in doing so she set herself up for a lash out.

At least she was able to come back, Clarke has seen more than one people succumb to madness and never get back. Those were the only time when a floating really got bloody. And when they also caused collateral damage that resulted in other people’s deaths.

Clarke gave a huffy sigh, it sounded no less than a thunder storm.

“eep!”

Monty had his hand pressed over Jasper’s mouth, she saw Jasper add his own hand to Monty’s.

Clarke looked to the group and saw them start at her, unsure if they should move or stay put. It was easy to see they were scared, there fear wafted down wind and into her sent glands. So much for making friends.

At least they didn’t smell her beast’s scent, or they would have been long gone and she would be alone.

Trying to lower her intimidation level, Clarke slunk into the river leaving her back exposed and floated to her group with an occasional pull here or there on the bottom of the river with her claws.

She watched them, and they watched her.

Clarke dove under and rolled, taking as much blood and guts as possible. She clung to the bottom willing herself to shift back, her beast whined, and Clarke whined back; after promising that they would shift again her beast relented the half hold and slinked off back into Clarke’s soul.

At least one of them can take a nap.

Clarke swam further under the water soothing her hurting body, at least until she needed to breathe again.

She breached the surface as human again and dragged herself onto the rocks before collapsing in exhaustion.

She heard the group cautiously move behind her to get dress and move some more, giving her a wide berth in case she lashed out before they came around to her front side.

They stared at her and she gazed back with half lidded eyes. She saw them gawking.

“You going to stand there all day or are you going to get me some clothes”

The boys looked down and started blushing before turning around. They were a jumble of apologies and fleeting looks. She knew her clothes wouldn’t last a shift as big as hers. Clarke would have been flattered, or angry, if she had any more energy left to spare.

Octavia by fare had the biggest grin and was laughing at the boys, and probably her to a degree. Clarke watched as the younger girl kneeled down closer, her caution thrown into the wind.

“You know that was pretty awesome, princess—”

Clarke whined, “Not you too”

Finn started laughing and was soon joined by Monty and Jasper.

“I declare Clarke not mad if she still hates being called that”

Octavia plopped down and moved Clarke’s head onto her lap.

“As I was saying princess,” Clarke gave another mumble at the nickname.

Octavia brushed the blonde locks out of Clarke’s face, “that was pretty cool what you did, minus the guts falling all over you”

Clarke snorted.

The younger girl chuckled, “we still got ten minutes or so left of our rest stop”

Clarke shifted painfully to her side to eye the younger girl with a raised blonde brow, “and you want to stay here”

Octavia shrugged.

“There’s no more water worms”

“That we know of”

“We need to get you patched up”

Clarke shook her head.

“After you and Jasper”

Octavia gave her a concerned look while Monty draped his jacket over her lover half, giving some modesty to her body. He cleared his throat and sat down next to Octavia as Finn and Jasper brought over their belongings.

“You really need to look at your own wounds, Clarke”

Clarke looked at the boy going into doctor mode instantly.

“No, give me the first aid kit so I can check the two out first. Then I’ll work on myself”

Monty shook his head, already familiar with her personality from the past however many hours they’ve known of each other.

“Fine”

“What Monty, no!”

Octavia tried to protest, but he still handed the kit to Clarke. Switching positions so that she was sitting up and Octavia had to lean back so her leg could be examined, Clarke began to disinfect the younger girl’s wounds.

Octavia tried to protest the entire time but shut up when a nutrient bar was shoved into her mouth. Grumbling, she begrudgingly accepted and broke half off for Clarke whom turned around and shoved it into Jasper’s mouth.

Jasper made a slight choking sound as he sat in line for his checkup, causing Octavia and Monty to giggle.

“*cough*cough* Thanks mom”

That really got the group going.

“Oh, hell no. You are not calling me that”

Finn came up behind Clarke and draped her own jacket around her shoulders.

“Sorry princess, but I think you have just been promoted to official mother of the hundred”

Clarke glared at him.

“Don’t you start”

Octavia snorted and lifted her leg to test out the finished bandage. Clean and flexible. She smiled at Clarke and gave her a hug.

“Thanks mom”

Clarke groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, “For fucks sake”

Finn moved around front and sat down, arms crossed in a mocking manner. “Now princess I didn’t know you could swear, but don’t do it in front of the children”

Clarke huffed and moved onto Jasper who was cackling. In her irritation she tied the last knot more roughly than what was needed causing the boy to swear.

“Anymore injuries”

“Yeah”

Clarke’s eyebrow rose at Octavia.

“Did you already tear up your gauze?”

“No”

“Then were done here”

Octavia pushed Clarkes head down forcing the older girl back onto her butt before she could get all the way up.

“The hell Octavia?”

“It’s your turn”

“I’m fine”

Monty gave her a look that easily said he was calling her bullshit.

“Look, just let me give you a once over and use the rest of this antibacterial”

“What if we need that for later?”

Octavia gently took off Clarke’s jacket.

“Then it’s a problem for later and not now”

Clarke sighed, “Octavia—”

“No, she’s right” Jasper handed Octavia some fresh bandages. “It’s the least we owe you for cleaning up ours. Let us play doctor”

Clarke couldn’t help her sarcasm from getting through.

“I can’t wait to play cadaver doc”

Jasper snorted and helped her into the shallow end of the river where there was still rock submerged to sit on. Octavia came down with the first aid kit.

“Okay let’s start…um, here?”

Jasper shook his head, Clarke saw that he looked paler than normal. The boy motioned to her back, “H-how about here, there’s still blood flowing”

Clarke shook her head and looked at Monty and Finn, both were frowning with worry; Clarke didn’t know the extent of her injuries, but she does know that full shifters heal faster than NCs.

Shifting her back to the water, despite the protest of her novice doctors, Clarke saw the many bites of the worms when she went under; but, the ones on her shoulders only looked like red marks nothing else. That was when she was mad and shifted. Good to know that she had tougher skin in her half form.

Turning back around Clarke waited for her doctors. When nothing happened, she turned her head up to see them both unsure of what to do.

Clarke smiled gently, “give me the rag”

Jasper held it tighter to his chest and shook his head. Clarke sighed and looked between him and Octavia, “then sit on either side of me so I can tell you what to do”

The two temporary doctors looked at each other before silently siting next to her. Octavia on her right and Jasper on her left.

“You two ready” They nodded. “Good, now—”


	6. Home? IV

Clarke hissed with the final tug of gaze.

“Sorry”

Octavia smoothed down the edges around Clarke’s ribcage while Jasper packed the first aid kit away. Finn and Monty jumped down and helped Clarke up.

“So…what are you?”

Clarke looked at the group warily. A decade plus of hiding your type of beast doesn’t just disappear overnight.

“Does it matter”

Finn looked at her, and to her great lack of satisfaction Clarke couldn’t see what he felt on his normal open face.

The boy took a deep breath before giving out a reluctant “No…”

“Then it doesn’t matter” Clarke hopped to her feet despite the protests of the others. “Let’s go, we can still make it to Mount Weather by nightfall”

Monty stopped in front of her with hands waving.

“Whoa, whoa! Clarke we were just attacked by giant water serpents and you want to continue a trek through a mountain range where we don’t know what’s lurking in the woods?”

Clarke cocked her head to the side with slight confusion and more than a little irritation.

“Yeah, we gotta eat, what else do you suggest”

“Well, uh…I don’t know.”

“We have no shelter and no food, were exposed in the open here”

Monty sighed and turned before following the crazy blonde on her little adventure. Octavia gave a whoop and ran ahead, again. Clarke had a feeling that this day was going to end on a bad note.

The group moved over forested hills and forested plains. It truly was a beautiful sight, like Clarkes drawling but a hell of a lot better. The scents, the sounds, all of it was real. It wasn’t like the too clean atmosphere of the Ark, it wasn’t fake.

Finn hopped over a log, closely followed by Jasper who ended up landing on his face with a mouth full of dirt.

“Let’s play a game”

Clarke turned uneasy at the boy’s grin,

“O—kay”

“It’s called what’s my beast”

“No”

“Come on. Mom don’t leave us hanging”

Clarke grabbed the back of Jasper’s jacket and dragged him forward to Monty.

“Here’s your brother, it’s your turn to watch him”

Monty snorted but dusted of his ‘brother’.

“Yes, ma’am”

Octavia snorted, “You aren’t going to fight it anymore”

Clarke gave the girl an amused glare, “They won’t stop”

“Then what does that make me then, the cool aunt?”

Clarke shrugged, “I guess”

“So, let’s play”

“No”

“Please, I’ll start. I’m—”

Clarke picked up a stone and tossed it into the air.

“A coyote, one who can only half change when you shift. Octavia is a full wolf, just like Bellamy. Finn is also a coyote and is also an NC like you. Monty is…”

She moved to the boy in name and circled him with subtle sniffs. A hint of slight unease, he’s a full because he doesn’t have that diluted shifter smell that resembles ozone; there’s also excitement yet caution which Clarke guessed was from their run in with the monsters and this adventure, he also smelled like shrubbery and freshly moved dirt.

Clarke raised her eyebrow and Monty mimicked her action.

“Well, Monty you are a full shifter, but you aren’t a wolf or a coyote. That being said, there were others with a similar scent in camp, so your beast species must be some what common. Just not as populous as wolf or coyote…I’m guessing deer? No, that’s not right…how about squirrel? Rabbit? No, again, you aren’t a rodent.”

Monty was looking amused and impressed.

“Mother knows the logistics”

Sighing Clarke shook her head and circled him again. She plucked out a loose hair and sniffed it.

“You’re canine or canine like, you hold your beast’s scent well even during our run in with the water serpents”

Monty grinned, “You’re good, final guess?”

Clarke clicked her tongue.

“Fox or hound”

The smile widened, “I’m a fox”

Jasper spat out a piece of grass, “I can’t believe you took fun out of that game. How the hell did you know about the rest of us? How did you do that?”

Clarke snorted, “Process of elimination, half of you can’t keep your beasts’ scents in check” She hooked her thumb at the fox beside her. “Monty has more control, be it a natural or practiced. As for the rest,”

“I saw you and Octavia shift, you smelled more like ozone than Octavia, so I just guessed that you were a half instead of a full shifter, same goes for Finn. More ozone smell typically means there is a higher chance of a none full shifter”

Octavia twirled off a tree and made a U turn back into Clarke.

“You seem to know a lot about this stuff, is it because of your rich up bringing princess”

There was fire to her words whether the girl knew it or not, but Clarke felt the boys tense up and her own defenses rise.

“I worked with my mother, who is a doctor, so when a patient was in they were typically not feeling well or were distressed; when someone is in that state the walls between beast and human mingle bringing out the beast’s scent. Over time I grew to recognize the different smells, as well as the different shift types based on the corresponding scents to medical data”

“Huh, interesting. Did you find anything that stood out to you?”

“Like?”

“Like if certain species or individuals held their scents more”

Clarke watched as Octavia’s eyes narrowed.

“Why do you hide yours, princess?”

Clarke leveled her guarded eyes to the younger girl’s prying ones.

“Who says I am?”

Octavia snatched Clarkes arms, startling a growl out of the blonde. Cautiously, as if remembering her little mad episode, Octavia dropped one arm and ran a hand over the one in her hand.

“You only shifted your arms, I didn’t notice till you were sitting on the edge of the rock before—before you were dragged back in”

“So?”

“Clarke”

Clarke looked warily at Octavia, the dark hair’s voice held sympathy, or was it empathy?

“You have an unbelievable amount of control if you could do that, Bell can do that, and it took him twenty years; and you’re at most seventeen. Plus, I can’t smell a damn thing about you besides your BO”

When Clarke didn’t provide any information, Octavia sighed while absentmindedly rubbing circles into Clarke’s arm.

“Look Clarke, I’m curious and confused. I’ve hidden under a floor all my life and I don’t have the control of you or my brother. And I had a _lot_ of time to practice. What I don’t understand is why you can’t—won’t tell us. We’ve seen you go mad and—”

Clarke took a step back but didn’t take her arm out of the girl’s grasp.

“Old habits die hard. Plus, it’s an intimate part of a person, it’s not always freely given. It’s the only thing that can’t be taken away from an individual”

Octavia looked at the blonde confused, the boys looked just as lost as she was, but they were staying back. The younger girl looked back at Clarke and saw what she often saw when she was hiding under the floor: fear; but Clarke had rage and resentment in her eyes too. Octavia couldn’t help but think that she was like this girl more so than they were different. She didn’t know how to feel about it.

“What do you mean? You had everything anyone ever wanted”

Clarke hissed out a breath.

“Despite what your brother and the rest of the delinquents think, being ‘of the privileged’ wasn’t all fun and games. Sure, we never went hungry and had the clothes on are backs, but Wells and I…we were always watched. Ever. Fucking. Moment.”

Clarke could feel her anger start to rise.

“We sometimes saw who was following us, but on the days were there wasn’t a human there were damn cameras following our movements, they weren’t even trying to be subtle; every moment was on a screen. There was no privacy, no free will or choice; we were ordered around and forced to be treated less than newborns until the last hours of Ark night. It just looked nice on the outside”

Clarke gave a rueful laugh and unconsciously took a step closer to the girl.

“It was all gilded Octavia, I watched those who went mad be floated constantly despite how short or long the madness was. They wouldn’t let my mother, or I try to find out what made them snap”

Clarke’s hands turned white at the knuckles unknowingly.

“I watched video of a man of lower income slit the throat of a middle-class family because they had more food than he did; but it wasn’t because they were damn mid class, it was because they traded a month’s worth of soap, jewelry, batteries, and who knows what else so that their sick child could gain the thirty-pound lost”

Clarke was almost nose to nose with Octavia and practically growling, she felt one of the boys shift behind her in case she was going to need to be pulled off.

“I watched Wells’ dad, a man who was basically my uncle, write down every name of a person he had to float and apologize till his lips bled. I even saw him break down, twice, in the corner of his room like a child lost in the world. He couldn’t speak to me for an entire month after he floated my father, and I sure as hell wished he floated himself too. I saw my mother grow cold every morning to try and preserve some part of her mind, herself as a person when she knew there was no doubt there would be trouble, be it with patients or vote for someone to be floated. The privileged have close and food, but they lose chunks of their humanity every year. Yeah, ‘privileged’ people have done fucked up shit and they _will_ be held responsible, just like _anyone_ else”

Clarke snarled low and deep, pacing.

“It was cut throat, you always had to watch your back. My father and I tried telling people that the Ark was dying, because the people deserved to know; and they locked me up, I would also be dead if I wasn’t shot to earth, but what was worse was they floated my father. A leading engineer, he found the problem, and they killed him before he could tell others or work on a solution. The Ark damned all of us, so keep the ‘privileged’ bullshit out of it. Everyone has problems, so cut the bigotry”

Octavia glared at Clarke, but Clarke could see her head turning at the new point of view. She could also see that Octavia was shaking, be it to slap her or cry, she didn’t know which though.

Clarke yanked her arm out of the younger girl’s grasp, it was to soon after going mad to have such a throw back to an emotional time. It wasn’t safe. For any of them.

Clarke crossed her arms and let out a deep sigh that felt like it was waiting to be let out for over a decade. She took in a deep breath focusing on the Earth, her lost home. It was calming the rising fire of her veins. It helped that no one tried to bother her, they probably had their own questions, but Clarke could see they were processing what she said.

Clarke ran a hand through her hair and gave another sigh. She caught Octavia’s eye.

“You really want to know why I’m so well at hiding my beast’s scent?”

The girl lessened the hardness in her eyes and nodded. Clarke looked toward the setting sun.

“If my beast was discovered by _anyone_ outside my family and reported it, I would be killed. No trial, no witnesses. Even if I didn’t go half mad when they floated my father. I would be killed just for what I can shift into. So, if I’m not very inclined to tell you what exactly I am, based off a decade plus of anxious paranoia and hiding my scent as best as I can so I don’t get floated, then give me time or leave it be”

The group looked horrified.

“They can’t do that” Jasper moved to Clarke’s left. “They can’t!”

“But they have” Clarke’s dry reply echoed. “All crocks, constrictors, and sharks have been killed off”

“That’s a lie”

Clarke looked to Monty, “Why do you think those who go mad don’t get a chance at redemption, even if you’re below the age of eighteen, if you go mad you’re dead”

“There has to be some others left”

“Unless they are lying on their birth certificate, which mine was falsified”

“Damn”

Finn sat on a log looking relaxed, but Clarke could smell the anxiety on him.

“You haven’t shifted at all, then?”

Clarke shook her head,

“Only in my room and that was once a year, I couldn’t in solitary because even though the cage was tall enough it wasn’t wide enough”

“What? Why!”

“I have a very…potent smell that can cause quite a ruckus”

“Like constrictors?”

“Yes, like the musk of constrictors. From some, questionable, experiments found in the archives it was found that some species tend to rile up others or drive shifters into a maddened state”

Octavia cocked her head, “So, which is yours”

Clarke shrugged, “I don’t remember; I haven’t let my beast’s scent out uncontrolled for so long”

Finn tossed a rock at her foot his brows were furled in thought.

“It must have hurt when you went mad then, if you only changed once a year and then the gap year with the whole traitor and what not, then you don’t have the control needed to keep your beast at bay. It would also explain why you went mad. Clarke you’re a time bomb”

“I know”

“You know, you _know_ ” Finn’s eyebrows shot up. “Princess, you could kill people, what if you go mad again but your beast doesn’t relinquish control”

Clarke shrugged and looked at the boy,

“You better leave me alone or kill me before I kill you then”

Jasper huffed, “You’re deranged if you think anyone down here would kill you without a good reason”

Clarke snorted.

“Tell that to the other delinquents who are running loose and want nothing better to do than tear out mine, and Wells’, throats”

Jasper opened his mouth but conceded that she won. He knew Clarke was right, Clarke knew she was right, but she’d be damned if she let the kids die without trying. Even if it kills her.

Clarke’s mother’s words rang through her head.

_Your instincts will tell you to take care of everybody first._

The clearing was silent, and it took Clarke a moment to find out that all of them were staring at her,

“What, do I have blood on me still?”

Mute shakes of their head.

“Then what”

Finn blinked, “We won’t push, we all know that’s a bad idea,”

Clarke heard a snort from Octavia.

“But is it faire game if we ask or find out by accident. We are curious you know”

Clarke looked at the hopeful expression. She sighed to herself, this might be the best way to get them to stop pestering her anyway.

“As long as you don’t bother me and—”

“Great! Are you a hybrid wolf?”

“What? No, Finn. I’m not a wolf”

Jasper threw an arm over her shoulder as she started walking away.

“Well you aren’t a shark, crock, or constrictor…how about a mutated bunny. Radiation can be a real bitch”

Clarke swore under her breath. “Do you really think a rabbit, even a mutated one, would have twelve-inch claws? You know what, Jasper, don’t answer that”

“But mom am I right?”

“NO!”

Octavia jumped onto her back, forcing Clarke to give the young, but not light girl, a piggy back ride.

“So, are you a bear then? You were big enough. Oh! Princess did you know that you caused the ground to shake?”

“No Octavia”

“Or that you were taller than ten feet by a long shot”

“No Octavia”

“Is it true that if two people conceive while in half shift or full shift that the offspring’s shift is at least twice as big?”

“Octavia! Wait, what? Where’d you hear that”

Octavia leaned to her chin on top of Clarke’s head.

“I hear Bell talking with some of the cadets outside of the room onetime”

Clarke snorted, “No offenses but you brother doesn’t seem like the smartest”

Octavia happily agreed.

“It’s true but he is one for family”

Clarke hummed in thought.

Finn jogged in front of the children clinging to the princess.

“So, princess, once you get your beast in control can I have a piggy back ride because that would be awesome”

Clarke smirked, “what not feeling big enough yourself, if not you really shouldn’t compare with me”

Finn freight hurt as the others giggled.

“Princess you wound me so”

“And yet, you didn’t deny it”

Finn took a sniff at her and then at Jasper.

“Are a full?”

Clarke couldn’t help but be slightly impressed.

“Is that a guess”

Finn shrugged “It was an educated one”

“You had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right”

Finn walked backwards in front of her, “Yeah, but that is the same percentage of getting it wrong too”

Clarke nodded, “I’ll give that one to you, I am a full shifter”

“Whoo! One mystery down, who knows how many to go with you princess”

Clarke sighed, “Let’s just move on, we’re wasting daylight. And Octavia, I might be strong because of my beast, but that doesn’t mean I am carrying you the entire way”

She could feel Octavia pout.

“To the next ridge, please”

Clarke’s exasperated “fine” was met with one gleeful reply, and three wanting their own piggy back ride.

Clarke really couldn’t help but think that they were all kids in a jungle, who almost died from water worms; she didn’t know how to feel about that.


	7. Not Home

They were so close, so close. But then it went to hell.

Clarke and the other four arrived at another river; the others were excited at least going by their scents, that and the fact that they were screaming with excitement. Clarke wasn’t an exception to that last part, but she had a feeling that where there is a river, they would get hit by high water. Again.

Unfortunately, she was right.

Finn was getting ready to cross when Jasper halted him, the boy wasn’t subtle in the slightest at trying to impress Octavia. And Jasper did it, he crossed the river via vine that was soon accompanied by a little jig and whoops and hollers.

He then bent over and showed us a sign, rusted and decaying, but no less legible.

‘MOUNT WEATHER’

But, as Clarke ran over the forest floor, she remembered the chocked expression of Jasper when a spear sailed out of nowhere an into his chest cavity.

A crash sounded behind Clarke and she skidded to a halt before going and helping Monty up, it was then she saw the bones.

A pained scream ripped through the air.

“Jasper!”

Fear quickly turned to anger and a surge in Clarke’s body told her she needed to protect her team. More importantly the one that was injured and _not_ dead.

“We have to go back!”

“Clarke,” Finn grabbed for her arm, but Clarke slipped through like those worms in water. “damn it Clarke!”

“At least stay in the trees”

Octavia came to my right, “He’s alive…uh where’d he go?”

Clarke snarled, turned, and sliced the bark of a poor tree that was simply trying to live. Just like them.

Out of her eye she saw her three remaining companions back up a good three feet.

Finn, trying to down play the current terror hugged a tree next to him.

“Don’t hit Jerry, please, princess”

She couldn’t help but huff a growl at the boy’s shenanigans.

“You do realize Jasper is alive _now_ , but he might not be in ten minutes right”

Finn nodded, his smile still plastered on his face, “And you know the trees didn’t take him”

“Grrrrr”

Finn sighed and flipped his hands at her like she was an unruly child.

“After you princess”

Clarke ignored him and looked at the other two, both obviously down, but Monty looked worse for wear. She rubbed his back as she passed.

“We’re not giving up on him”

Monty nodded, tried to say thanks only to find that the girl was already sprinting off back toward camp. Octavia shadowed her leaving the two boys stuck dumb.

“Th—Hey!”

Finn shook his head next to him.

Don’t bother, you can’t stop either of them”

Monty whined but none the less complied as he and Finn ran after the girls.

Clarke and her team ran back into their campground, and in perfect time too. Clarke saw Wells had a boy held at knife point.

“Wells! Let him go!”

Her ex-friend complied immediately.

“Clarke? What—?”

Pushing past and to stand between Wells and the other boy who lunged. Clarke waited for impact when Bellamy stopped the kid.

“Enough Murphy” He turned to the burning blonde. “Where’s our food?”

Finn plopped down, relieved to not be running through a god forsaken forest at the moment.

“We didn’t make it to Mount Weather. Obviously”

Bellamy’s nostrils were flaring, “The hell happened out there?”

Clarke gestured to herself and her team mockingly with just a hint of irritation.

“As you have a set of eyes, I’d say you would agree that we were attacked my good rebel king”

The older boy growled under his breath.

“Brave princess”

Clarke put her hands under her head and gave the most innocent smile she could produce at the moment.

Wells stepped between the two bickering brats.

“Whoa! By what?”

Finn rubbed his temples at the whole group, these people really knew how to ruin a mood.

“More like who. The last of those who lived on the ground that died on the ark were in fact not the last of the grounders”

Clarke found herself nodding subconsciously, “It’s true, we know now that we don’t know everything on the ground. Good news is that it’s livable and we can survive; radiation won’t kill us”

Finn smiled.

“Bad news is that the grounders will be the ones to do so”

“Also, bad news is that the animals here are monsters—OW! Watch it Monty”

Monty helped the girl sit down and elevated her leg on a crate. “Sorry—hey!”

Bellamy pushed past anyone and everyone to get to his injured sister.

“Octavia! Are you okay, what happened?”

“Ow! Bellamy stop that”

Octavia hit his hand away.

“It’s fine Clarke patched me up”

Bellamy eyed the blonde from his kneeled position, his voice low and promising a fight.

“What happened”

Octavia just hit the boy on the back of his head.

“Be nice Bell, she even gave me a piggy back ride. You stopped that years ago, said I was to heavy”

Bellamy snorted, “You are”

“ _*thwack!*_ ”

“Hey stop that”

Octavia glared at her brother, but it did nothing to stop the growing grin on the girl’s face.

“It’s your turn to be nice big brother.”

Bellamy ignored her. “What happened, I won’t ask again”

Octavia crossed her arms, despite saying she wasn’t a child she sure did continue to act like one.

“Some big ass water serpent worm thing in a river attacked”

Bellamy tried to be mad, he did, but his confusion and amusement overridden any of it.

“I’m sorry a what?”

Monty stayed back behind Clarke, using her as a meat shield against the elder brother, but casually supplied more information.

“A water creature tried drowning her when we were taking a break on a river”

Monty could have sworn he heard Clarke mumble something about not listening to her about a river that wasn’t supposed to be there. He decided to ignore the blonde, who was getting more and more tense for some reason.

Bellamy was even more confused if that was possible, he looked toward the rest of the scouting team, but none looked to by lying or breaking a smile to indicate a trick. They all looked wet though.

“So…how did you guys get out”

This time Monty felt the girl he was clinging to flinch, it was just in the shoulders and he wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t clinging; but Monty knew it had to be about her beast form.

“Uh—we…”

Monty bent forward for help from the blonde to play it in her way, she deserved that much.

Clarke gave a thankful smile to the boy clinging to her like a koala bear; she turned eyeing the rest of her team that looked just as hesitant as she was about her little…outburst.

“We dove in after her”

Bellamy lifted an eyebrow, “So why are all of you bandaged up?”

Finn huffed at the older boy drawing attention away, “Well excuse us for trying to save your sister, next time we’ll let her drown. No offense Octavia”

The girl smirked. “No problem, I’ll let you drown too”

“Hey, not nice”

She stuck her tongue out and Finn replied in kind.

Bellamy was on his feet in an instant and was leaning menacingly over Finn.

“If you ever let my sister get hurt again I swear to—”

“Bell, enough. At least they are helping people while they’re in trouble, look around you I’m for the do what ever the hell I want, but I smell a lot of fear here. Well fear amongst other things”

Sex was what she meant, when Clarke’s team was crashing through the outskirts of the camp they accidently tripped over one or two couples going at it. Clarke hoped they learned their lesson because those plants sure looked a hell of a lot like poison oak. Rule number one: if you want to bang know where you hang.

Clarke was surprised though that the girl went against her brother in that way, sure Octavia would go for being out from under his thumb, but against the way he was helping in a questionable way…not so much. She also noticed that Bellamy looked around, his mood getting damper by the second. Great, that just meant he would be harder to deal with.

Clarke looked to Octavia who was chewing on her jacket’s zipper, she catches the younger girl’s eye and smiles sympathetically. Octavia smiled shyly back but continued to chew on the zipper.

“Wait”

Clarke looked to Wells who came to her front giving her a once over, he looks at her clothes and raises a concerned eyebrow. Her old jacket, her new clothes. Shit. Wells would be the only one to know she shifted. Since he is the only one who knows what she actually is it doesn’t take long for his other eyebrow to shoot into his hairline with its significant other.

He may have caused her father’s death, but Clarke knew, even in her anger towards him, that he wouldn’t go shouting out what she was. He wouldn’t damn her. Or the other kids, they would be curious yet panic when they forced her to reveal her beast’s scent.

Wells glared at her, promising to find out the truth before stepping back, adding more energy into looking around.

“Where’s the goggle kid?”

Monty released a whine and Octavia gave a sniff that sounded wet.

Clarke gave Well’s a pat on the shoulder in thanks.

“Jasper was taken and hit with a spear. What happened to your wristband?!”

Wells rubbed his wrist and threw his head towards Bellamy who was smiling while Murphy was behind him making a slicing motion at his neck.

Clarke’s eyes narrowed. She looked around, many kids lacked their wristbands. She felt her beast growl. Nothing like the threat of your people to cause a protective beast to rouse from slumber. Great, how many more problems in one day.

“How many Murphy? Clarke hissed,

The boy smirked. “Twenty-four and counting princess”

Clarke looked up and tried catching as many eyes that she could.

“You idiots. You damn morons! The ark is dying, that’s why we were sent down. They need to know that it’s survivable down here, and we need them. For food, medicine, to help fight the grounders. When you take off those wristbands you aren’t killing just those on the ark, your families and friends included, your killing yourself”

Several kids looked stunned while others looked thoughtful or fearful. Good, at least some knew how to think. It was then Clarke caught Bellamy’s eye, a minute glare fest. Bellamy turned away and gestured to the kids surrounding them.

“Don’t listen to her, she’s privileged”

Clarke made a move to lunge toward Bellamy but stopped when a hand grabbed her arm. Looking down Clarke saw Octavia looking back and forth between her brother and Clarke herself; she noticed that the younger girl looked conflicted and—apologetic?

“If the ark comes down, she and the prince have it good. Can any of the rest of us say we’d get the similar treatment? We’re stronger than you think. Those bands are nothing but the reminder that you are prisoners. Not anymore.”

Bellamy scoffed and looked back at Clarke, a smug smile was festering into a grin. Clarke only wanted to rip it right out of his face.

“The chancellor says he forgives us for our crimes, that’s bullshit. I say you aren’t pathetic criminals, your fighters. Survivors! We shouldn’t worry about the grounders, they should worry about us!”

Roaring applause filled the woods till Clarke couldn’t hear herself think. He damned them, himself, everyone.

Clarke turned, ignoring the chanting and howling.

Monty quickly ran after her; desperation and fear were in his eyes.

“What are we going to do now Clarke?

Clarke continued moving forward,

“Now we go after Jasper”


	8. Not Home II

Clarke was going over her supplies in the dropship. There wasn’t a lot, hell there wasn’t really anything.

“My father wasn’t joking about leaving us anything”

Wells caught Clarke glancing at his wrist.

“Tis a scratch as Monty Python would say”

Clarke nodded slowly, “Keep it covered, you don’t want infection to set in. Congrats on making new friends”

Wells sighed and gave her a stern look.

“Congrats on the new clothes”

Clarke glared at the boy.

“It’s none of your business”

Wells gave an exasperated sigh, “Clarke I’m your frie—”

Clarke didn’t give him a chance,

“Finish that sentence and I will do to you what I did to those creatures”

Wells looked at her skeptically,

“So, you didn’t run in after the girl?”

Clarke shook her head, she didn’t want to bother with his interrogation; but Wells was surprisingly stubborn when he wanted to be.

“No, I definitely ran in after Octavia”

Clarke looked at the boy in front of her, she wanted nothing more than to rip his jugular out; at least that’s what her anger says. A small part of her, five years old, the part always trusting, always hoping, wished to have her friend back.

“I went mad Wells”

The boy flinched back instinctively before shaking himself.

“How? Why?”

Clarke looked at him blankly, curse the damn stupid little child in her.

“I’m guessing over stimulation to a hostile environment, you saw how the rest of the kids reacted when they hit the ground”

Wells nodded, “Yeah some shifted before they got off the dropship. I’m surprised no one has gone mad or gotten killed…well besides the two who weren’t strapped in”

Clarke could only agree with Wells. If something set one of them off, or the entire group…Clarke shook her head. She couldn’t think like that, Jasper is what mattered now, the madness and grounders could wait for now.

“Let’s go”

Clarke almost gave herself whiplash when she turned to the boy.

“Nice pack, but no. You aren’t going with me”

“My ankle is fine Clarke, I won’t slow you down. Besides it’s not like there’s a line of people waiting to volunteer”

Clarke gave a warning growl and stalked away. Wells ever faithful shadowed her feet.

Monty popped up in her mid-stride, “I’m going too”

“No, you are not”

Monty’s face strained with irritation, “Like hell I am, he’s my best friend, My brother Clarke”

Clarke grabbed his face forcing him to meet her eyes.

“Born farmstation and recruited by engineering, Monty, you are needed here; food and communication, it’s what will save us. Especially with what’s here”

Clarke tapped his head.

“You figure out how to get into contact with the Ark and I’ll bring back Jasper”

Monty nodded before his expression turned to one of confusion.

“What is it Monty?”

Monty only grabbed her wrist”

Wells peered over her shoulder, “What’s he doing Clarke?”

Clarke snorted, “The hell should I know”

Monty turned over the arm that held the wristband.

“How did this not break when—”

Monty’s eyes jumped to Wells before falling onto Clarkes.

Clarke nodded, “It’s okay Monty he knows”

To his credit Monty hid his surprise very fast.

“Well when you…shifted I would think that it would break. You were a pretty big girl—ack! Sorry, I didn’t meant—that’s not what I”

Wells snorted. Clarke huffed with amusement.

“I know Monty, continue”

The boy gave a sheepish smile. “I would have expected the wristbands to break in a shift”

“Is it possible that it shifts with a person”

Monty shrugged his shoulders. “When it’s taken off the signal dies”

Wells held up his empty wrist, examining the indents that marred his skin. “Is it possible to reactivate the sensors if you put it back on and shift; or, get a band loose enough during shift to take it off without losing signal?”

Monty cocked his head to the side in thought.

“I don’t know, but I can’t say it won’t work”

Clarke nodded and pat Monty on the back, he had his job now.

“Then let’s get to it, see if you can reverse engineer these bands and we’ll go get Jasper”

Clarke motioned to Finn who was sitting in the corner and reluctantly to Wells.

“No can do princess, I’m not going”

That stopped Clarke in her tracks. The excited adventure boy skipping out sounded impossible. She did nothing but gawk at Finn though.

Finn looked at Clarke, she noticed that he had an intense and serious aura around him.

“Clarke it’s a suicide mission, a spear thrown with pin point accuracy from three hundred or more feet away. Are you seriously going to go against those odds?”

Clarke couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“So, we let Jasper die? Not happening. Spacewalker…what a joke. You aren’t an adventurer, you’re a coward” She scoffed and stomped out, there was too much disappointment in the damn.

Wells watched her go before furrowing his eyebrows at Finn, he gave him a once over and sighed.

“I’ll watch out for her” The double entendre wasn’t lost on the three boys in the drop ship.

“Build a wall from the fallen trees, were going to need all the help we can get by the sound of your guys food adventure”

With a final pat to Finn’s shoulder Wells walked off to find the fiery sun that no doubt was going to burn or destroy something in the next ten minutes.

Monty glared at Finn before walking off to tinker with the wristbands.

“Jasper looked up to you”

His words were none more than a whisper, but they had the force of a hurricane to Finn.

Over on a log Octavia groaned in pain, also from irritation in the form of an overly concerned Bell who keeps prodding her leg.

Bellamy gently unwrapped her injured leg, the worse of he injuries, but there was still too much blood for his liking.

“O, what the hell was it that attacked you guys?”

Octavia snorted, despite acting like a delinquent, Bellamy was one for the books.

“The others said it was a giant water worm serpent snake thing”

Bellamy glared at her, but any heat died quickly at her smile.

“Always had a way with words didn’t you O”

Octavia gave a half bow, “Of course”

Bellamy grabbed her head and forced her to look into her eyes, “You could have been killed”. He rubbed her cheeks, ignoring the girl’s protest that she isn’t a child anymore.

“She would have been if Jasper didn’t go in and pull her out”

Bellamy looked wearily at the blonde troublemaker behind him, he felt his inner wolf bristle at the challenge that her presence just seemed to cause each time she stepped out into the sun.

“Well she would—”

“Bell!”

Octavia’s shout brought both his and the blonde’s attention to the injured girl. “Clarke also came in after me, plus she patched me up. I owe her”

Clarke shook her head, “You owe nothing Octavia, you helped me with my injuries. Besides”

She looked at the younger girl, who looked so much more like a kid than her brother and half the camp and gave her a small but sincere smile.

“You help people when they need it, with reason or not, it doesn’t matter”

Bellamy pushed himself between his sister and the blonde that he could get to follow orders.

“Look princes, you privileged might help each other without a second thought, but you guys don’t give a damn about those less than you. You never did!”

Wells stepped from behind Clarke to intervein, but Octavia grabbed her brother’s arm first, “Bellamy not everyone—”

“What you’re taking her side, she watched people float for fun. Probably ate popcorn and watched—”

* _WHAM*_!!!

Everyone stopped and looked at Bellamy. The young man himself looked stunned and confused as the rest of them.

“Wha…?”

“Clarke did you just headbutt Bell”

Octavia watched as her brother looked down at the hand he pulled from his face. Nice big blood droplets started to fall from his nose, the look of surprise quickly turned to anger and then fury.

“Oh, it’s on princess”

Bellamy’s scent glands went on overdrive, the sweat and sex turned into the deep musk of wolf and rage as the boy shifted.

The crowd that developed hushed instantly, Clarke could smell their fear at the man who shifted into the bipedal form before her. Clarke would be impressed at the two feet that Bellamy grew in his shift if her own anger wasn’t in roaring red.

Bellamy bellowed a cry and lunged forward pinning Clarke to the ground. His smile was more of a snarled grimace,

“Where’s your fight now princess?”

She felt his claws dig into her gauze and into her skin, her own howl of rage and pain ripped from her throat.

“Clarke!”

Clarke glanced toward the sound to see Wells holding back Octavia who appeared to have tried to stop the two of them.

“Pathetic princess, you have a good punch though”

His tongue darted out and swiped out some blood that continued to drip out of his nose. Bellamy picked up the girl and threw her behind him, he gave a howl at his first blood and turned to the collapsed blonde after her sickening thud against a tree.

“Bell stop!”

Octavia was practically collapsed against Wells, tears streamed down her eyes as her brother stalked past her. He didn’t even look at her. She couldn’t tell if he even heard her or if he’s gone mad too.

“Whoo! Kill the bitch!”

“Death to the privileged, death to the family killers”

Wells, and therefore a pulled along Octavia, turned to Murphy and a few others who were chanting for blood.

“Why would you ask for that, she and I had nothing to do with the floating of your parents”

Murphy only flicked off Wells and gave a smirk that promised Wells that he would be next.

Wells shook the girl that still laid limply in his arms, “Octavia you have to stop Bellamy before he kills her or before she goes mad, again”

“You knew?”

Wells nodded at the shocked girl in his arms.

“Have for years, only besides her fami—her mother…”

* _Thwack!!!_ *

The two turned to see Bellamy hit the area above Clarke’s head.

“Wake up princess, your beauty sleep can wait!”

Octavia stumbled onto her injured leg and tried to call out, but like Wells and the rest of the spectators she stopped in terror when her brother’s clawed hand went up into the air as a final farewell, before in rocketed to the crumpled body and the blonde’s bent head.


	9. Not Home III

****

With bated breath the audience watched the execution in front of them. The final signal being when the clawed armed came down with an execution sentence.

It wasn’t like a movie where blood was spewed everywhere, there was though the cry of a girl. The sister, the one to watch her brother murder in cold blood a possible friend of the future.

When Bellamy didn’t move however whispers spread through the crowed like wild fire.

“Is she dead?”

“Where’s the blood?”

“Hey—Oh, shit!”

Octavia with Wells, and the rest of the delinquents, looked toward the man. Still shifted but not moving, like a statue among the trees.

Then his head shot up before the rest of his body was thrown away a second later.

The surprise quelled the whispering.

Clarke’s hunched figure stepped forward and roared a roar so big and deep, and so primal, that birds were fleeing the trees, their small shadows passed overhead blacking out the sun for several terrifying seconds.

A call for blood.

Octavia ran, more like limped, to her brother who was sprawled on the grass. Getting into his face she smacked him lightly before his eyes shot open to hers. He looked shocked and confused, Octavia was certain he had whiplash or a concussion, but the only one to really tell was the person who gave it to him; and Octavia was sure Clarke wasn’t going to be nice anytime soon.

“Bell” Octavia pulled his elongated ears for his attention. “You need to stop this. If you do what ever the hell you want, to her, she _will_ reply in kind. And there will be blood. Lots of blood Bell”

Bellamy climbed back onto his feet wearily and nudged Octavia into Wells’ arms again.

“Stay out of this Octavia”

“Bell, STOP!” Octavia clawed at her brother’s arm and firmly curled around the fury appendage. It was when Bell picked her up again that she saw Clarke. The blonde was bleeding from some head cut, and her body was already bruising; but what struck fear into Octavia was Clarke’s eyes.

Narrow black slits accented by sharp blue looked back into her own. Octavia wasn’t sure if Clarke was mad, on the verge, or it was just her finally having enough and releasing her beast; but there was no kindness in the void that looked toward her, she feared for the life of her brother. Octavia saw the worms being torn asunder before her again, this time her brother was the next in line.

Octavia began to shake, nausea threatened to spill into more than a feeling, her brother knew how to fight. He fought more than just well, but up against raw nature? Against a girl who called herself ‘a time bomb’, against someone who may have the heart and skill to save life, yet beast and brain to take it?

Wells came up behind Octavia and grabbed hold of her brother’s arm too. Bellamy looked livid. Wells took a chance and pulled on some fur.

“Blake, your sister has seen what Clarke can do. You guys will kill each other. So, listen to your _sister_!”

Bellamy only growled and tried to shake them off, but it only caused the two to clutch onto him tighter than baby koalas.

“Damn in Bell! Look! Clarke’s only on guard, you were the one attacking her first. She’s a hell of a lot better than half the people here so open your damn eyes!” Octavia shouted.

“Fuck the privileged!”

Bellamy ripped the two off before gently placing his sister down and tossing the prince next to her.

“Bell you don’t know her or her past, please just stop”

The shifter stopped midstride and looked back, “I don’t care O”

Her brother walked off before going into a full sprint. Octavia looked toward his target.

Clarke remained where she was, all she did was watch the exchange. Octavia noted that the only things that changed about the blond was here nails turned claws, enlarged canines that were hard to fit into the girl’s mouth, and of course Clarke’s eyes. Octavia watched as the blonde’s eyes narrowed in on her brother’s movement.

The blue eyes caught hers and Octavia unintentionally took a step back. They looked angry and vengeful, but they also looked sad and pained. The blue eyes sprang away just as Bellamy rocketed into the girl.

Clarke’s movements were precise, and nothing like at the river. There was no roaring or thunderous steps of a juggernaut. No excess energy being used, or hits being taken.

When Bellamy lunged into the blonde she ducked and rolled and watched as he rammed into the tree she was thrown into. The tree cracked with a silent cry and crashed to the earth in a flurry of leaves and twigs.

The cries of the crowed soared given by the vibrations in the air but were muted out to Clarke. It was her and Bellamy Blake, his beast versus the one trying to pry its way out of her chest.

Clarke jumped backwards and moved down onto her haunches to wait. An angry howl sounded, and Bellamy jumped back up not bothering to rub the blood that started to flow more freely from his nose.

“What’s the matter princess, no come back?”

Clarke hissed in response, “What’s your problem”

Her beast was clawing through her system, she felt the bones hardening beneath the surface of her skin and fire her veins.

A big furry clawed finger stuck out at her, “You, your my problem! You can’t just waltz in and order people around like—”

“Like you? Look around, don’t you smell the fear or is your nose just as useless as your pathetic excuse of protection around here”

Bellamy growled and lunged forward, this time though he caught Clarke when she dived and threw her into the dropship. Clarke twisted taking the brunt of the impact with her legs before springing back with the momentum and kneeing the half-shifted wolf in the muzzle.

No ozone, so he’s a full like his sister.

Bellamy reeled and swiped at the blonde’s face, just missing her eyes and slicing her nose.

“Bellamy, Clarke! Stop!”

Neither bothered with Octavia who was being held down not just by Wells, but Monty, Finn, and several other people who were either nice enough or smart enough to stop her.

Clarke backflipped out of another lunge and sprinted toward the other side of the clearing with Bellamy hot on her heels.

Murphy cupped his hands to his mouth, “Why yah runnin’ princess, scared?”

“Fuck off Murphy”

The boy turned to Finn, “You wanna go at it spacewalker? Or are you a bigger coward than the princess?”

Finn smirked as Monty snorted.

“You should be glad that she’s a coward if you saw her half shift you’d be deader than the worms”

That got Murphy’s attention, but before the boy could say anything a blur of fur was thrown between them and into the drop ship. This shifter however was used to throwing not being thrown.

Bellamy’s body hit the ground with a soft thud, a great contrast to the dent left in the ship. All eyes turned to the princess who was standing on the stump of a broken tree. She was snarling softly into the wind, her canine incisors to large to have them all tucked away.

Murphy turned to the crowd, “What happened?”

One of the boys helping Monty looked over, “She threw him over her shoulder, here you go Monty”

The smaller boy hopped up and gave a nod in thanks.

“Miller” The boy looked to Murphy.

“What” Miller was looking at Clarke with a look of awe.

“She’s like an ant to a buffalo”

Miller laughed at the fuming boy, “You do realize that in body ratio to strength that an ant is stronger than a buffalo”

Murphy flicked off the boy and looked toward the blonde and then at the dropship where Bellamy was just now getting back onto his feet.

“Come on guys we have to stop them, she’s not attacking” Monty pleaded.

“That’s her own damn fault for not taking an opportunity” Miller looked at Murphy in disgust.

“Whose side are you on?”

Monty grabbed Miller, “We’re all on the same side, this needs to stop so we can find Jasper and then figure out how to fight against the grounders. Not each other”

He looked into Miller’s eyes pleadingly.

The taller boy sighed before dragging Octavia up off the dirt floor as Monty started dusting her off.

“Fine Monty you go to the princess, Murphy you’re with me, along with you two”

The two boys paled as they were pushed from the crowd.

“Now—”

A howl nearly split the air before being closely followed by a deep roar. Warnings for no one to interfere.

Bellamy was up and loping toward the girl who crouched on her haunches ready to pounce.

Murphy whistled, “So much for making friends”

Miller glared at him but said nothing as they all turned to watch the two go at it again. Bellamy slashed at the princess, splintering wood in the miss hit when she jumped off it and onto his back. Clarke used her momentum to displace the tall shifter’s center of gravity until he was flipped over her shoulder. Again.

Bellamy quickly rolled and pined the blonde. Clarke kneed his chin before pulling both legs back and kicking the shifter and rolling back. She hit against something hard, taking the opening Bellamy grabbed her before throwing her back into the metal crates.

Bellamy stepped back and howled toward the sky as he pounded against his chest. Clare surged from the destroyed supplies, arms now furred and shifted to her elbows and lunged back; dragging her claws across Bellamy’s chest.

“Oh no…”

A look traveled between Finn, Monty, and Octavia. Miller smelled their anxiety.

“What’s wrong?”

None offered up a reply, he looked to Monty before putting a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Is there something we need to know?”

Monty looked to the other two who were just as unsure. Hesitantly, Monty looked over at the two who were clawing at each other’s soft stomachs. When he saw Clarke’s wounds get reopened he made his decision.

“Long story short Bellamy is being a complete ass, even you have to admit that”

Miller nodded, he only heard half of what was said but this was starting to go a bit far.

“Also, Clarke is the reason we are alive, but she doesn’t’ have the best control of her beast…we still don’t know what she is either. She went into defensive pre-shift mode like that”

Miller followed the boy’s fingers at the fur that refused to go farther than an inch past her elbow, Miller couldn’t help but think it was impressive, such control took years; he should know, his father can do it and it took him two plus decades. Miller turned to Monty and raised an eyebrow for more.

“And?”

“And she mutilated the water monsters that attacked us”

Miller smirked, “So princess can hold herself, just like now. If I were betting I’d have to say I’d abstain because there are no clear winners here”

Octavia stormed over and pushed him in the chest.

“Listen, she—uh”

Octavia didn’t want Clarke to be chased off, she was the only one really qualified to be a doctor, plus Octavia would be lying if she said she didn’t become attached to her little expedition party; but Bell was losing it, she’s actually sure he went mad for a good ten seconds, and Clarke. Clarke seemed to rub her brother the wrong way no mater what she did, but if the fight continued and she shifted her brother could be more than just hurt, same goes for the rest of them.

“She and Bellamy don’t get along”

Miller snorted. “I haven’t noticed”

Monty glared, and Miller whipped the smile off his face before motioning the girl to continue.

“Look if she goes mad” again she thought, “then Bell won’t walk for a year”

Miller raised frowned but when he saw that Octavia was too busy watching the fight he saw the actual terror. Just what happened on their expedition and why did they evade the questions from earlier, a thought popped up in his head. Leaning forward and bringing the three into a huddle her asked.

“Did she go mad?”

Miller felt them flinch. So, it was true.

Finn was the first to recover, “No more than Bellamy did when he threw Clarke into the crates and went ape—wolf?—you know what I mean”

Monty and Octavia shared a glace, it was very much a gross understatement.

Miller straited up, “So you want to throw kids into the two who are duking it out like monsters?”

“There not monsters!” yelled Octavia.

“Rrrahh!”

Everyone looked to Bellamy who was hunched over snarling at Clarke and bit her leg, his canines disappeared under her alabaster thigh.

“Holy shit”

The four looked to Murphy who unconsciously put his arms out and started moving kids back towards the forest.

“Clarke!” Wells screamed.

“Bell stop, please!” Octavia begged.

Bellamy complied, and Octavia released a breath, but she caught her brother’s eye or his beast’s eye. He was mad.

“He’s mad”

Monty wrapped his arms around Octavia in a hug.

They watched as Bellamy went for Clarke’s throat. She beat him away with shear strength, but when that didn’t work he went back for the injured leg, eliciting a horrid yell of pain turned roar from the girl.

“Clarke!”

Miller tackled Finn to the floor.

“Get off Miller, she’ll die!”

Miller only held tighter, “She ain’t dead yet”

And they watched as Bellamy sank his teeth deeper, Clarke’s blood was visible for everyone to see. He yanked back on her leg, causing the girl to snarl and twist under him. Clarke sank her claws into his ribs and pulled him down and twisted. She rolled till she was on top of the eight foot something shifter, whom in his surprise let go of her leg. Clarke dodged a clawed hand and sank her own teeth into the underside of his neck.

Her beast purred at the crunch and the taste of vengeance.


	10. Not Home IV

A strangled whine escaped the shifter pinned to the ground,

“BELL!”

“Octavia stop, it’s not safe!” Monty yelled.

Octavia ignored the call and sprinted toward the two on the ground, Wells was on her heels before over taking her and racing toward Clarke’s side.

He stopped suddenly causing her to careen into his back.

“Wells mov—god!”

Clarke looked more red than white, her back and leg were ripped to shreds. Bellamy didn’t look any better, his fur matted in blood clots that stuck up here and there.

Wells’ hands weaved in and out of his hair.

“You bloody idiots what did you two do to each other!”

Clarke growled. Her eyes that were watching the male under her swiveled till they locked on the two.

She growled again over the throat in her mouth but refused to move.

Wells put his hands on his hips and glared back fuming,

“You should have shifted Clarke”

The girl being reprehended started growing again till Wells put up a hand.

“No, it wasn’t fair ground, he went mad at least twice and you didn’t shift. Your luck you’re a—”

Wells stopped himself and took a deep breath.

“Your lucky he didn’t get _your_ throat.”

Octavia pushed past him toward her whimpering brother, but Wells grabbed her in a very impressive bear hug.

“Let me go she’s killing my brother”

Wells voice fell several octaves, startling the three present at the malice.

“No, she’s keeping him till he calms down. If I were her I’d rip his throat out instead of constricting the airflow. Look Octavia, can you say this was a good fight. Look!”

Wells pulled her to the ground with him till they were no less than three feet away from the semi-shifted form of Bellamy. He pulled her to her brother’s neck that showed little blood and then at Clarke’s stomach and leg which looked like she was flayed alive.

Wells let go of the girl and she crawled toward Clarke, the latter’s eye followed her. Wells would have laughed at the look of a girl pinning a shifter that was almost twice her size to the ground if Clarke’s wounds weren’t so concerning.

Octavia slowed her craw when she heard Clarke growl low, she chanced a look at the blonde who was glaring at her brother.

Bell on the other hand was watching her, his own voice being constructed to nothing more than a rumble of his chest.

Octavia rested on he knees next to her brother’s head and gently rubbed his head while Wells stretched the skin around one of his eyes. Bellamy moved his arm and started growling in protest but was quickly quieted when Clarke increased her pressure, it wasn’t till he stopped and almost lost consciousness did she loosen her grip.

Octavia was swearing under her breath at the two of them as Wells continued looking at Bellamy, after releasing the skin of the man’s second eye he patted Octavia on the back.

“He’s not mad at the moment…I think”

Octavia sniffed loudly before yelling.

“You moron, why didn’t you listen! Clarke release him, please” The last bit was nothing but a mere whisper.

Nothing happened.

“Clarke?”

Octavia looked at the blonde who was trembling. She noticed that Clarke was digging her claws into the ground in agitation.

Octavia slowly put her hand on the blonde’s back, causing the girl to whimper in pain.

Wells kneeled next to her as they looked over the blonde. Wells brushed blonde bangs out of the way, “Clarke”

“…”

“Clarke if you can hear me give a high-lo-high”

Octavia looked to the boy confused before looking back to Clarke. The blonde whined, huffing at the effort, her fleeting adrenalin wasn’t helping, before giving a deep growl that rumbled through her small frame. She stopped for a moment and clawed the ground again before she whined again.

Octavia looked to Wells for anything, when he spotted her questioning eyes he offered a small smile.

“An exercise to see if she is mad either”

He bent to look at the blonde’s irises.

“I thought people didn’t understand why others go mad”

The boy nodded, “We don’t know, it seems to do with stressors, the fight or flight response, or something like that. Doesn’t mean we don’t know the behavior or the look of someone whose gone mad”

Octavia nodded, “So is she?”

Wells smiled sadly and shook his head, “She’s fighting with her beast”

A grunt next to them drew their attention. Bellamy was glaring, albeit not very hotly given the low amount of oxygen his brain in recieving.

Wells frowned before looking to Octavia, “Your brother your responsibility”

Octavia glared back at Wells, but he only pointed at Clarke’s bleeding leg.

“You know your brother was going on about doing what ever the hell we want, so what if Clarke wants to kill him?”

Octavia tried to punch him with one arm while the other was glued to Clarke’s back via the girl’s blood, Wells easily caught it and bent it backwards causing Octavia to hiss in pain.

Bellamy tried going for Wells but Clarke clamped her jaw in a tight lock, this time more blood started flowing from Bellamy’s neck.

Wells released Octavia and glared at the older Blake.

“So much for a fair fight” he spit.

Octavia was surprised when Bell flinched from the other boy.

Wells continued to glare but held out a hand. “Truce? Were only trying to help the other kids. Stop with the damn ‘privilege’ you’re older and should be wiser, Probably more open to differences”

Bellamy started growling but stopped to give his throat a rest from the princess’s jaws. He eyed Clarke who looked like she was off in la la land and slowly raised his clawed hand to shake with the younger male.

Clarke whined again catching all their attentions.

“Wells what’s wrong is she…”

The boy shook his head and went around to their flanks before supporting one of Clarke’s shoulders with his own as he picked up one of her arms to examine it.

“It’s fine, she’s didn’t go mad, surprisingly. She just needs to calm down more”

The fur slowly receded back into her skin as nails shortened and boned shifted.

“Since when did you speak princess”

Wells lifted an eyebrow to the girl.

“I’ve known her my entire life, got arrested for her. Just like your dumbass of a brother”

Octavia made to slap the boy, but Clarke whined again. The pain steadied her to the present, but her beast was the one to promise that she and not Clarke would get out next time.

Clarke slowly pulled her arm back from the awkward position that Wells held it in before popping her jaw sideways and releasing Bellamy’s jugular.

Bellamy sucked in a greedy breath of air and looked to the girl who was grimacing over him. Bellamy moved onto his elbows and shifted down himself as Octavia tackle hugged him.

Both him and Clarke were breathing heavily. The older male looked down and saw Clarke was saying something.

“What?”

He wheezed, flinching at the pain in his throat.

She glared up at him, “I said at least when you shift you don’t rip your clothes”

He couldn’t help it, Bellamy snorted and started laughing, despite the pain, and when Wells sighed and started hitting his head against the dirt.

“Yeah well princes—Ow! O, the hell?”

When he looked to Octavia he stopped immediately, she looked pale like she was going to be sick.

“O is every—”

“Be. Nice.”

He followed his eyes to the blonde who crumpled onto his legs. His eyes trailed over the girl, her back looked like a toddler’s drawling, her leg…

Bellamy rubbed the back of his head only to feel that his hand was shaking. Was that what it was like to go mad? It felt like a dream.

He gently turned the girl over with the help of her prince to look at the damage on her ventral side.

He looked away in shame. The neatly bandaged flank of her was ripped and her semi old wounds were spilling blood and puss. Her stomach looked like someone was played a game of operation with a claw machine hand. That was putting it nicely.

Wells pulled off his shirt before turning it inside out and pressed on Clarke’s leg, taking his belt he asked the blonde where to place it before following her finger to a place about five inches from the wound, basically her hip, and tightened the makeshift tourniquet.

Bellamy struggled to swallow the lump in his throat, even with a shifter having accelerated healing it didn’t mean the pain was lessened. He looked over his own body. His ribs took the worse hits, then there was his most likely broken nose. Nothing immediately fatal unless the injuries got infected. He didn’t want to think about how most were defense wounds from the girl.

Wells was right, the fight wasn’t fair; and yet, the girl won.

If this was the ark he would have been floated asap; some had the superstition that madness was contagious. He looked to the claw marks near his shoulders and couldn’t help but think of the narrow slits that remained in the blonde’s eyes. There may be some truth to those rumors yet.

Bellamy watched Clarke whreath in pain as she pushed herself up, only to collapse back onto his legs breathing heavily. Octavia moved from besides him and pulled the blonde into her lap.

“Let’s get her to the dropship” his croaked.

Wells gave an exasperated sigh, “Oh the big bad wolf wants to protect one of his pack, how _sweet_ ”

Bellamy glared, “She headbutted me first”

Any intimidation in his voice was lost from the strain. And from losing.

Wells squared his shoulders, “And _you_ instigated it, telling her she didn’t give a damn about anyone who was floated. Did you know that her father was floated for trying to let everyone on the Ark know it was dying? That she was charged for treason and would have been floated because of her wanting to help. Or, how about when we were children she would beg for the council not to float people until her parents were warned that once she reached the age of eight she would be held responsible for words said and could be charged as a traitor?”

Wells was red in the face and seething with anger, but he felt himself on a role. It also felt nice to release some tension that was bottled for over a decade.

“Tell me Blake. There are kids out there who had just as damning childhoods that you two had, some even worse, don’t look surprised—either of you. You had each other, no one else has a sibling to take care of them, to lean on. Just because you have a shitty life or part of a life doesn’t give you a damn right to be a shitty person”

He wrapped his shirt as tight as he could around Clarke’s leg causing her to cry out.

“Gods, sorry Clarke.”

He turned his head to Bellamy looking him up and down, before scoffing. “Of course, she would only try to warn you away to keep both of you safe”

Wells sighed and pushed more weight onto the wound.

“Always the martyr she is”

Bellamy looked down at the girl who was trying to keep from flinching under the weight of her friend’s hands. He pushed down the guilt that continued to rise.

“Let’s just get her back, there was rumors that there should be one person who’s trained by doctors for a while”

When neither Wells or Octavia spoke up he looked only to find them both looking at the blonde. Octavia turned toward him but didn’t look at him. That hurt him worse than the knee to the face.

“Bell…” She swallowed and just shook her head before turning back to the blonde who was clawing at the ground in pain. Octavia shushed the girl and rubbed a hand through the suns rays that filled up the girl’s entire head. Bellamy’s stomach dropped.

Wells glared at Bellamy before sighing heavily.

“Clarke has the most experience given she shadowed doctors and her mother is one”

Oh…shit.

Several footsteps thundered behind them.

Monty, Finn, and Miller looked at them.

Monty quickly went to Wells to asses the damage before leaning forward on his haunches, he hit the ground with his fists. A bitter laugh escaped the normally light hearted boy.

“And you say we aren’t criminals”


	11. Not Home V

Clarke passes out sometime after being picked up and finds herself waking to the inner belly of the dropship. Her head was splitting, dehydration she guessed before remembering the fight.

Clarke threw the covers off her and instantly regretted the fast and jerky movements. Pain laced up her left leg before climbing her back and curling to her stomach.

“Ah!”

Something metal crashed to the floor and a body practically threw her on her smarting back.

“Clarke”

The blond looked in the dark at the figure hunched over her.

“Clarke it’s me, Monty. Stop moving you’ll open up the stitches! Hey, don’t growl at me. Rude”

Clarke blinked the bleariness away. Monty was smiling, but pure exhaustion stole everything but his mouth and eyes. Clarke looked around spotting Octavia sleeping on a makeshift bed next to a groaning mound.

Monty followed the blonde’s gaze and sighed.

“You two gave us a scare, Bellamy wasn’t a happy camper when he was forced down and waterboarded with cleaning alcohol. His vocabulary is very impressive though”

“Are his wounds clean and wrapped, if so when because they need to be changed every—”

Monty clasped a hand over her mouth, earning him a mean glare. His own eyes gave back mirth.

“Wells was right, you really don’t care for yourself at all, only others”

Clarke huffed but didn’t bother correcting him.

She rolled onto her side to see the two siblings who were dozing away.

“What time is it?”

Monty shrugged, “Late, it’s too dark for most people to be out”

Clarke sighed and gingerly rolled onto her back the pain reminded her that she had bigger problems to deal with in the future. Her beast wanted a run, a full one.

“Help me up”

Monty laid down against the wall next to her, “Do you need to go to the restroom?”

Clarke shook her head, “No but I do need to find Jasper, go wake Wells and then you can sleep—”

Monty cut her off by poking her gently against her stomach, a pained hiss escaped her clenched jaw.

The boy frowned, sitting up he moved to the bed and gently placed her leg on his lap. The small jostling brought forth swearing that would make even the foulest delinquent blush. Poor Bellamy wasn’t in first anymore.

Monty shook his head sadly.

“Clarke, I really want Jasper back, but you can’t walk. Hell, you can’t move your leg without seizing up in pain” he whispered.

Clarke resisted and started to protest when Monty gently put her leg down onto the bed.

“Let’s see how well you heal in the morning”

“Monty” Clarke whined, but it only seemed to make the boy more amused.

“Goodnight Clarke”

With that Monty yawned and shuffled to his position back on the floor next to her little abode. Resigned Clarke huffed out a ‘goodnight’ letting the cool metal lull her to sleep.

When morning came Clarke was rudely awaken by the sounds of hitting and yelling. She rolled over and groaned, hiding away in her blankets she chased the last strands of sleep in hope for an extra hour, or five, of sleep.

“Clarke you’re awake! Finally, it’s the afternoon”

The blonde yelled into her pillow, so much for extra rest.

Wells ripped her covers off and gently took the pillow out from under her.

“Come on we need to see how well you healed. Monty says you woke up last night, why didn’t you wake me”

Clarke flicked him off before rolling onto her elbows and glaring through the morning rays that bounced through the dropship’s entrance.

She rubbed a fist to her eye to chase away as much exhaustion that she could before glaring at the boy on her bed side.

“I tried, we need to get to Jasper today if we can, but Monty said—”

The boy popped out of nowhere.

“I said for you to rest, I’m acting doctor when you’re out of commission…apparently”

The boy gave a big yawn and glared outside to the racket. He stretched before moving around the metal cabin. Clarke watched as he shuffled around pulling out gaze and some paper, among other things that were littered here and there.

“Here”

Clarke looked at the blue liquid capsules that were shoved into her face. When Monty received a skeptical look he just handed her a cup of water.

“It’s antibacterial and anti-inflammatory”

Clarke still refused to take the medicine.

Wells and Monty shared a look before Wells went around and held Clarke in a headlock, while Monty tried prying open her mouth.

Despite Clarke being injured and suffering from heavy blood loss, the boys still had trouble holding her down.

“What are you doing?”

The three looked to Octavia who walked in holding a smoking piece of meat.

Monty sighed.

“Clarke’s not taking her medicine”

The blond huffed, “Clarke can also refuse treatment, especially with valuable items that need to be _rationed_ ”

The two males sighed in frustration while Octavia chuckled lightly.

“Clarke they’re right, you are basically the only doctor here, those two know somethings but it was pretty spotty last night. You’re lucky you still have your leg”

Clarke’s eyes turned to slits as she stilled, her voice turned to stone grating on metal.

“Your lucky I didn’t turn mad or rip your brother’s throat out”

The two boys froze, and Octavia looked like she was slapped across the face with an iron rod. The younger girl looked at the blonde before looking away to the girl’s injuries. Her leg was swollen and smelled of slight infection. The gauze, Octavia could tell was recently reapplied, but there was still blood blooming through the thick layers. The girl really was lucky that she had that leg, even if Bell did…

The dark-haired girl nodded silently at the damage her brother did before she propped the meat down on the counter. Octavia moved closer to the trio, she could see through Clarke’s attempts at disguising her exhaustion.

The blonde started growling when Octavia reached for her head causing the younger girl to stop and look at Monty.

“Put the medicine in the water”

Monty complied quietly, slightly skeptical about what good it would do.

Octavia nodded to the boy before pinching the blonde’s nose which only seemed to make the blonde more irate.

Understanding passed over Clarke’s eyes and she quickly took in a breath and clamped her jaw shut.

Wells held the girl tighter around her chest and gently squeezed out the air from her lungs.

“Just take the medicine Clarke”

The blonde shook her head.

Monty snorted half-heartedly, “How stubborn”

Clarke could feel the buildup of carbon dioxide in her body, making her feel faint and dazed.

When Clarke still didn’t open her mouth at half a minute Octavia tried opening the girl’s mouth with the help of Monty, but the blonde was dead set on not taking any medicine.

When the blonde’s mouth cracked just a bit Monty tried pouring in the capsule, but not only wouldn’t it fit, but Clarke also shot the water back out into the cup.

“Clarke come on—crap”

Monty put the cup down seeing as the blonde passed out, Wells agreed with a heavy sigh and laid the girl back down on her bed.

“Now what”

Octavia picked up the cup looking at the small pill before rattling it around.

“Is it possible to give it to her now or pull it apart so it mixes with the water. Bell used to do that when I was sick and didn’t take medicine” well _when_ we had medicine.

Monty shrugged.

“Don’t see why not, besides it’s probably better for Clarke to get more rest”

Octavia handed the boy back the medicine and sat down on the bed stroking back Clarke’s blonde mane.

“How’s she doing?”

Monty chuckled lightly as he prepped the medicine.

“She woke up in the middle of the night making sure that I patched Bellamy up before trying to go on rescuing Jasper in the middle of the night. So, if you’re concerned about her dying, I’m just going out to say that she’s to stubborn. She should make a full recovery if the medicine works”

He put a hand on Octavia’s shoulder.

“She’s still mad, well not _mad_ mad, but mad as in—you know what I mean. Clarke just needs to cool down”

Octavia nodded and grabbed a rag to clean the sweat that was forming on the blonde’s forehead. She’s the only real girl companion—friend?—that she’s had. Ever.

Wells cleared his throat looking pained, “But, don’t forget she can hold a grudge”

Monty and Octavia glanced at each other and then to Wells. Octavia was the one to ask as Monty cleaned a tube to put down the blonde’s nasal cavity.

“Why does she hate you so much and yet make sure you…alive”

The dark skinned boy sighed and rested an elbow against his bent knee.

“Long story short she thinks I was the reason her father died since he was taken shortly after she told me about what Mr. Griffin was about to do”

Monty gently placed the tube down Clarke’s nasal cavity and into her stomach before opening the tube to the bag now filled with the liquid medicine mixture. He knew the blonde was not going to be a happy camper when she woke up again. Monty turned to Wells,

“So, you weren’t the actual one to call her father in. Why not tell her that?”

Wells shook his head.

“The truth would kill her, or turn her mad permanently”

Octavia placed more pillows behind the blonde’s head.

“Why do you let her hate you?” she asked softly.

Wells chucked,

“She would do the same thing, we save each other, that’s what best friends are for. I’ve known her for years, my entire life actually; plus, I would have been dead if not for her. It’s the least I could do”

“What do you mean?” Monty placed a second bag filled with water to replace the medicine drip later next to the bed.

Wells sighed and made himself comfortable and the other two followed, looks like Clarke watch has become story time.

“So, a long time ago—”

“You know for trying to rid yourself from the prince and princess motif, you’re doing pretty badly, especially starting a story like that”

Wells rose an eyebrow at Monty who had the decency to look sheepish. Octavia just snorted in amusement.

“ _Anyway,_ long ago—stop laughing—long ago Clarke and I would try and sneak off when ever we had a person as a babysitter. Mostly we would go play games or just explore the ark.”

Wells laughed at a resurfacing memory.

“One time we walked into the black market and everyone started freaking out that we would tattle. Clarke, being the ever-generous person she is, offered her pack of cookies to some of the younger dealers and asked if anyone had any paint”

Monty snorted, “Paint, why’s that?”

Wells grinned, “You should see her drawings, rumor had it she would draw on the walls and floor of her isolation unit”

His smile faded fast, “They were true, and the art works were beautiful”

Octavia leaned forward to listen to the history of a fellow isolationist inmate.

“How did you find out and how did she get those supplies”

Wells shrugged.

“Not sure about her art supplies, she could have smuggled them in or bribed someone. It’s also possible that those who knew felt bad and gave them to her. She might be a princess to you guys, but I’m not joking when I say we’ve done plenty of illegal things. We’ve just been able not to get caught. She’s the ‘ark’s sweetheart’. As for me finding out about her art work she was in one of the corners where there were cameras, get your hands on the controls or on the person who operates them and presto! You can see who you want”

Monty was fascinated about their ark’s princess, her and Wells were well known, well liked, and well hated.

Octavia held a hand up, “Whoa, what do you mean illegal things, and was the black-market a onetime deal?”

Wells shook his head,

“No, it wasn’t hard to memorize the faces, even though we were like seven at the time; I’m not sure if Clarke really understood at the time what she did, all she wanted was to paint some animal to make some sick kid happy. Though, she did make friends that day, she would bring in her food for art supplies and barter with some of the dealers”

Monty leaned back resting his arms under his head, “You make her sound like she’s the most innocent thing in the world minus helping the black market”

Wells snorted.

“Far from it, definitely one of the nicer people in this world but she isn’t afraid to throw weight around. Or pull punches”

Wells look toward Octavia on the last part. The girl glared back.

Octavia laid down on an elbow and ignored the jab, “Why would you be dead without her?”

Wells rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“One day after I first shifted—”

“How old were you?’ Octavia was excited again, she wanted to know more about shifters, it was one of the few things that Bell wasn’t familiar with.

“I was ten when I first shifted”

Monty got up and switched out the medicine with water drips before laying back down in front of the other boy.

“And Clarke?”

Wells looked at Monty and then Octavia, evaluating how angry Clarke would be; as long as he didn’t’ say what she was it should be fine…

He hesitated slightly.

“Five minutes”

“WHAT!”

Clarke groaned at the loud outbursts from the two listeners but didn’t wake up.

Monty was practically leaning on Wells.

“That’s unheard of, the youngest is three years old”

Wells shrugged again, “That’s what her parents said when my father and hers had a long ass debate on why shifters shift when they do. So, yeah looks like she broke the record, but for all I know it could be a lie. It’s not the first time our parents lied to us. Though considering they told us to keep it quiet it was probably true, nothing like the threat of a kid becoming an experiment”

Monty sat down, “Outed on both sides huh”

Wells nodded sadly. “We don’t belong on either, we had friends in all types of classes. People looked up and down at us, it’s just how life was on the Ark. We simply tried to help people stay happy, and get things from the black market that seemed useful or fun”

The two boys shared a smile.

Wells extended his legs and gave a pleased groan as he stretched

“Back to the story, so one day after I first shifted I had a bunch of energy. You know, ten and finally shifted, time for adventure; but, I followed my beast, which is a full change hound, wanted to run and play you know. Without my knowing I left Clarke somewhere fare behind with an even farther behind maid, this was before I knew she was—had a beast basically since she was born. I didn’t notice her slow down or call to me till I was lost in one of the prisoner supply depots”

Octavia and Monty watched the hairs on Wells’ arms stand on end.

“What happened”

Wells looked to Octavia, well more like through.

“I ran into a fighting ring of temporarily released prisoners, who were on break, without knowing, and since I was the son of the chancellor…”

The two avid listeners shot back when Wells lifted his shirt showing a long gash that ran across his chest and curved with his ribs.

“Jesus”

“Who did that?” Octavia trailed a finger over the almost scale like skin.

Wells looked down, but his expression confused the two, he looked happy and fondly at the obviously painful scar.

“The fight club stopped, and everything was quiet till they noticed who I was. I remember being pinned down and some one pulled out a long knife, they each made the same cut, going deeper and deeper with each person next in line to cut the ‘prince’ of the Ark”

Octavia sat back with a low whistle.

“So, does the princess have any scars like that? You did say she saved you”

Wells laughed.

“Yes, but the ones I know of are from sparing with her father or from her just being a klutz”

His smile faded, and he pulled his shirt down.

“Clarke saved me when the last person handed the knife back to the owner. He was going to go do the same thing with my throat when Clarke stormed in with several guards”

Octavia looked impressed, “So, a ten-year-old girl busted a fight club and saved your ass from bleeding out. Not bad”

Wells chuckled darkly, “Yes, but the guards lost, it was five of them again twenty plus prisoners; the prisoners killed three of them unfortunately…”

“Meaning all twenty would be floated even once they turned eighteen”

Wells nodded, “Precisely, so they were desperate and when they were fighting Clarke carried me out of the room like a bloody sack of potatoes. She took one of the radios from a fallen guard while the last two guards held them back while we escaped”

Octavia perked up, “Wait a minute, I know this story, Bell was called to help even though he was green. He told me that it was about a kid who ran to a wrong part of the ship and his best friend who helped Bell and the rest track down the prisoners who riots”

Wells nodded quietly at the new information. If the boy who helped them was Bellamy why was he so—shielded?—thats the only word Wells could think of.

“Well it’s possible, the fight club was using months of supplies, by the time Clarke and I accidently got them caught they used over three years of supplies despite being the fight club only being opened for six months. That’s one reason why the council has sticks up their asses when it comes for using excess supplies, the Ark has been running on fumes for years”

Octavia gave a thoughtful hum while Wells finally noticed that Monty was scribbling on paper.

“What are you doing?”

Monty looked up, “I’m getting this for a record, it would make a great story for later at the campfire”

Wells didn’t know if that was for the best, but he let it slide.

“Anyway, I was passing out every few minutes, because of the blood loss and only got glimpses but from what Clarke told me, and the fragments of my own memory, was that she called for backup and then her mother’s personal channel; said that almost all guards were sent to the cell blocks to control the prisoners that were still out of their cells”

Wells took a breath and looked upward getting lost in the memories.

“There was a lot of confusion going on but the only one who seemed to notice Clarke and I, her bleeding package and best friend at the time, was a kid who was dressed as a guard and had really black curly hair. Him and his squad tagged along with us when Clarke asked the boy for help, stayed with us even when I was completely passed out. According to the rest of the story, from Clarke’s view at least, was that I wouldn’t have made it to medical, we were too far away. That’s why I have a scare, Clarke said she had trouble convincing the group to help her till curly shut down his team and handed her a knife. She then may or may not have created an illegal fire and cauterized the wound”

“It’s _you_ two”

Wells and Monty looked at the girl who looked to fascinated by the story of a friend burning another friend.

“That was Bell, Wells. The boy with the curly hair was Bell, he came home that day and I asked about the sirens. He said two brats stumbled upon a fight club that went hunting for them before rioted after they learned they were discovered”

Wells snorted, “He liked us then”

Octavia’s own smile quickly turned down; but before she can say anything Wells continued.

“Clarke said that after she closed me up she had curly—Bellamy and his team carry me till one got tired and then I was moved to the next like some kind of hot-potato. Clarke took them through maintenance hatches, she said Bellamy—you know what I’m sticking with curly cause your brother now was not the hero he was then”

Octavia made a lunch for the boy but was quickly pulled away by Monty.

“You bastard! Let go Monty”

The young man only pulled her farther away. Wells didn’t apologize, never would, he could sympathies with lose, guilt, and anger but not at the cost of such damage that he did to Clarke yesterday. If others started acting similarly then the hundred were going to be dead before the next week.

“Curly—”

“Fuck you!”

“Curly and his team were taken through the hatches by Clarke. She said that there were one or two skirmishes and that curly was a good fighter, also said it would be nice to have him as a friend. Given how she broke a guy’s legs to save your brother from an axe to the face, and how he in turn helped her fight through the corridor that was on fire, it’s just a _bit_ ironic that the present is how it is.”

Wells took a sip of water from the out stretched hand of Monty, “When they were outside the hospital the group members were actually seized by elder guards, along with her parents and my father, till Clarke vouched for them; saying that I got separated from our handler” more like stalker.

“And that and I quote, ‘these people helped save my life, I begged them to leave and escort us to the medical wing. Please don’t be mad at them they didn’t desert”. Still don’t think any of the young recruits recognized that it was us and not some other doctor’s kids. The prince and the princess saved by the guards who would slit their own throats if they knew who we were”

Wells turned a mocking smile to Octavia who was fuming instead of blazing.

“Did your brother ever receive a package that had a picture of knights from the really old times?”

He could see the realization flicker over the girl’s face instantly,

“Was it of a man on a horse with some stick with others behind him?”

“A lance, but yes”

Octavia nodded slowly and gently pulled herself from Monty’s arms where she slid down the wall opposite of Wells.

“Yeah, a blonde girl—it was Clarke wasn’t it”

It wasn’t a question for Wells.

Octavia sighed. “Yeah, he got the package, but I was out of the floor and so when the girl knocked we started to freak. He ended up chasing her off after she said hi and handed me a box of chocolates. Bell was harsh even for my standards that day”

Wells sighed, he was the one that hugged Clarke when she told the story with tears in her eyes. It tore him up thinking how he’s watched her heart harden over the years, she was still just as loving, but it seemed to pain her more for some reason, maybe it’s because they started losing friends fast once they were older and rules started becoming far stricter.

“Yeah, it was her. Did he like the cookies we made for him, or the history book that her father helped us print from old archives that should have been corrupted data decades ago?”

Octavia gave a small smile but stopped seeing the boy was getting angry.

“The cookies were fantastic, same with the chocolate; and no, he didn’t like the book”

She saw the boy on the other side of the room wilt.

“He loved it”

Wells looked ecstatic and very pleased instantly. Octavia gave a hesitant but bigger smile.

“He did look for the girl—for Clarke but he never found her. He even asked his friends of his group who also received food too, but they didn’t know who you guys were. Eventually you faded from their minds and after out mother—”

Wells nodded.

“There were more pressing matters”

Octavia looked at the blonde who was snoring lightly next to a furiously writing Monty.

“Why did we get so much more?”

Wells chuckled.

“Like I said, she wanted to be friends. She’s not one that’s meant to be lonely or isolated. It’s why isolation hurt her so much. She never forgot curly, but I was passed out for most of the time and she was trying to keep me alive, so she didn’t get the best of looks; besides your brother looks a hell of a lot different then when he was fifteen. He’s the only one to get a drawling from her”

Octavia chuckled, which surprised her; a personal gift from Clarke seemed like a mythic object for some reason to her. She wondered how her brother would be like if he were friends with these two. Maybe less protective if they knew about her, but then she may have been discovered faster too.

“He didn’t forget her per say, just pushed her to the back of his mind; but for a long while all he did was search for her in his spare time. Before we were caught he sometimes takes out the picture to look at; he loves history, and I think he’s always wanted to be a knight or knightly”

She saw Wells nod slowly as he looked at the sleeping blonde, they’ve spent easily several hours talking.

“Maybe we’ll be friends this time”

Octavia sighed to herself at Wells statement, it would be interesting, maybe even nice; but after that fight between the two…she wasn’t sure how Bell would take to the princess being the book girl.

For all she knows it could be the best thing or the worst.


	12. Not Home VI

Clarke dreams of her life on the Ark before it went to hell months prior, before her father died, before she fell to earth in a tomb of steel, before her life turned into a gambling chip.

Her father was sitting next to her and the Jahas on her other side. They were watching another one of their games, long since the players were alive, but their entertainment kept company for decades to come.

Clarke started to doze off before she felt her father lift her up, he beast purred against his own at the feeling of being safe and happy. She swayed with his walking, not even in her fathers jostling with the door did Clarke feel awake. Warmth was spreading over her and she felt herself falling farther and farther into the clutches of the sandman.

She barley recognized being tucked into her bed.

“Get well Clarke”

Not something her father would normally say, but her brain wasn’t processing anything besides following the call to sleep.

“Sleep tight princess”

Clarke lazily looped her arm through her father’s and brought it up to nuzzle against just like when she was a kid; she grunted out something that died instantly on its way out, the tethers of sleep were to strong and pulled Clarke into a deep black with a feeling of rest that she felt she’s never had before on the Ark and its hard-sterile environment.

Bellamy froze, as the girl practically twisted his arm in her cocoon of blankets. Guilt had overruled his anger and reasoning, and he originally came because he wanted to make sure the only real medic was alive to help patch up other people.

That was until he saw her shivering and whimpering, his instincts took in to care for the girl as if she was his own sister. So, he tucked her in and turned to go, but that’s when she grabbed him.

The blonde whimpered, which brought Bellamy’s attention back to the present, when he tried to slowly move away, he felt vulnerable it was like when Octavia was in a deep slumber and was teetering on the best sleep or the worst nightmare.

Bellamy sighed and sat on the vacant chair next to the makeshift bed. He was just glad that his sister and her buddies left for dinner. If she came back and he was still here though he would never hear the end of it. His pride would be his downfall.

He couldn’t help but put an elbow on the bed and stare at the girl who was able to pin him down, even in a maddened state. Flinching Bellamy leaned farther back, he couldn’t let that happen again, no matter how infuriating the girl was. He did feel the guilt eating away at him, it was only right that he had ripped ribs and several holes in the back of his neck (her molars used for pressure instead of incisors to cut).

Bellamy rubbed the bandaged absentmindedly. The princess was an enigma. She also had a good punch and a hard head.

Bellamy snorted at the memory of the fiery blonde surprising him, an ex-guard with a headbutt, before wincing at his smarting nose that finally had a more normal appearance.

But…she was a wild card. She also had the ability to pre-shift, something that he could do but she was to young, almost too young in some aspects. She didn’t shift in their fight, the low blow of Wells ‘comment about a fait fight still stung; but whatever her beast was it was strong and almost primal.

He bent closer and sniffed the girl’s matted mane, but he couldn’t detect anything on her. Was she a fox, or a wolf? A bear? She was stubborn enough. When Bellamy found himself leaning in closer to catch her beast’s scent he separated himself a good foot or two from the blonde.

Bellamy rubbed his free hand through his hair and released a big sigh. Turning his head he looked at the girl who finally had a relaxed look. Ever since stepping off the dropship, hell, even before when he tried to open the damn door the princess had a look that screamed of tension.

Clarke released a soft snort and nuzzled his hand again, it would be quite cute if he didn’t know this girl could rip his throat out.

Bellamy sighed and got up from the chair, he was here long enough; but when he tried to retract his arm again the girl only whined and held onto him tighter, even going as far as to curl up on herself. It was almost to the point he wanted to wake her and call uncle.

“Dad?”

Bellamy gave a frustrated growl, it was to late to deal with emotional baggage. He had a camp to run, plus he was hungry and needed dinner.

Clarke grew more distraught when he tried pulling away for a third time. Sighing, he was doing that a lot lately, Bellamy cupped the girl’s cheek with his trapped hand and started rubbing his thumb along her cheek. It was something he did when Octavia cried from a more thorough inspection day.

Instead of leaning in like how Octavia did, Clarke just moved away some and wrinkled her nose before nuzzling his palm again, she was practically purring.

Bellamy felt himself smile despite not wanting to, it was good that there were times to be…gentle and carefree in the environment they were in.

Bellamy snorted lightly when the girl curled tighter and brought her other arm around.

Great, now he was really stuck. Yet, it didn’t quite feel like it.

He heard the flaps of the dropship curtains sway, only to see the end of a shoe slip out. His heart started pumping, he didn’t notice someone come in the entire time he was with the blonde who only seemed to cause trouble.

At least she could care for the kids when he takes Octavia and leaves. The thought was depressing as it is, but Bellamy found himself getting to attached to the brats in this camp, and the thought of leaving was becoming more and more heavy.

A nice aroma wafted to his nose, he turned this way and that, well as much as the blonde would let him and found a small piece of sheet metal with food on top.

He looked back toward the curtains that kept out the sight of what presumed were drunken kids, going by the sounds that they were making, that Monty fellow really knew how to brew some moonshine.

Whoever came in didn’t come back in the last ten minutes that Bellamy watched the door. Deciding that the food was for him, or Clarke (she wasn’t awake, so she didn’t need to eat) he got up moved to the metal plate, sniffing for any tampering or poison, one of the skills guards had to test in training.

It wasn’t till he sat back down next to Clarke with the sheet metal and (now) his dinner did he realize that his arm was released.

He had half a mind to walk out but it didn’t feel right to let the girl sleep without any protection while she was healing from her wounds.

Bellamy slowed his chewing and gently lifted the blanket to look at her left calf. It was wrapped nicely but it still smelled of blood. He squashed the queasiness that rose and continued to eat, he’ll stay with in the temporary truce until the blonde’s better and then she’s the princes’ problem again.

He replaced his arm and the princess spooned around it almost instantly before she started nuzzling his arm this time. She was a cuddler apparently.

The girl sniffed, and Bellamy froze again, looking down the girl was sniffing. He looked to his food then back at the girl. Slowly he grabbed one of the pre-torn pieces of meat (who ever delivered this knew or suspected that he would have his hands full) and slowly held it closer to Clarke’s nose.

She was like a hound, even in her sleep she followed his other arm, despite the slow pace of the sleeping kid. He did slightly regret that she was drooling on him, a lot. He chuckled a bit, they were all essentially children, with child like tendencies and the Ark sent them down, to die, in hopes that they would live. It made him furious, the extent of the Ark’s terror ran long and deep.

In his temporary laps of focus he left the food to close to the blonde, Clarke bit his fingers.

“FU—hhhph!”

Bellamy gritted his teeth and looked to the girl who was gnawing away on his fingers, the actual piece of meat had fallen back on his plate, but his pride was torn to shreds when he heard suppressed laughing behind him.

Monty was smart enough to hide behind one of the larger chairs. The younger boy held his hands up, both had cups in them.

“I came to see if you wanted any of my moonshine”

Bellamy growled but it didn’t seem to intimidate the boy.

“At least it wasn’t Octavia”

Bellamy couldn’t help but agree on that one, he glanced at the boy as he came around the chair and let down the cup to the small crate he brushed over with his foot.

“How was dinner?”

The older male looked at the boy, he didn’t seem to want anything or had any malice intent.

“So, that was you?”

Monty looked confused and took a sip from his cup,

“You didn’t see me? I said I would be back soon”

Bellamy shrugged and looked down, his thumb was completely out of sight but he could see the tips of his other two fingers sticking out on the other side of her mouth; he tried to yank his thumb and fist two fingers from the girl’s jaws. She’s lucky he washed his hands before checking on her. Clarke’s jaws only increased their strength when he tried pulling away.

He was lucky she didn’t bite his fingers off.

Monty was laughing again when the older male glared at him and pointed to his trapped hand that he still continued to shake.

Monty shrugged,

“Equal and opposite reaction?”

Bellamy felt a muscle in his jaw constrict.

He pulled lighter and was rewarded with a similar caliber chomp. Bellamy stopped and let the girl chew on him a bit more before sliding his fingers slowly.

His thumb was free but marred with teeth indents, and she had his two fingers form the second knuckle to his fingernails.

“I really hope your hands are clean”

Bellamy glared at the boy, “I clean up before dinner, I’m not a filthy dog”

Monty only raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment, somehow that slight nonchalance seemed to make the older male more irate for some reason.

Bellamy worked the rest of his hand from the girl’s sharp maw, shaking his hand he chugged the cup of moonshine and pored the last few sips onto his fingers.

He put his sheet plate where it was originally left and stormed out of the dropship, with the curtains halfway pulled he turned to Monty with the hottest glare that he could muster at the moment.

“This does not leave the room”

Monty shrugged before waving the elder male away.

“Same time tomorrow”

Bellamy flicked off the boy and as he stalked off he could hear the boy laughing his ass off. He wasn’t going to bother with it anymore.

Guilt and honor didn’t let him though. Clarke was out for two more days and each night he would sit next to the blonde and eat (her) dinner. Monty joined him with drinks each night as the blonde laid curled up snoring the entire time, plus the occasional drool puddle and call of someone long past.


	13. Jasper's rescue

Clarke woke to a pounding headache and a ravaging pain in her stomach. The light that filtered through made her dizzy and unsteady. Clarke immediately pulled her covers over her face.

“How you are doing mom?”

Clarke squinted at the boy who moved the cover out of her face.

“Tirderd”

Monty rolled the girl onto he back and opened one of her closed eyes, resulting in the girl slapping his hand away before she curled back into a ball.

“Tired”

Monty snorted.

“You must be, you didn’t get mad at me calling you mom—”

“I—” Clarke yawned. “Stopped trying with that one”

“Okay princess, you slept for almost three days strait”

The blonde practically jolted out of the bed before Monty had to grab the girl from sprinting out of the dropship.

“Clarke you need to eat”

Clarke was hastily trying get dressed before stopping.

“Wait?! Did you undress me? Never mind we need to get to Jasper”

Monty sighed.

“No, some of the other girls did. But you need to eat if you want any energy, you haven’t eaten anything but Bellamy’s fingers in the past three days”

Clarke tripped and whipped her head around at the boy.

“Sorry, what!?”

Monty held his arms up to calm the raging blonde hurricane.

“I’ll tell you over breakfast”

By the time Monty checked Clarke’s wounds, and had breakfast with her which was filled with stories from the past three days (plus her seconds and thirds, then lunch) the sun was high in the sky.

Clarke snorted water out of her nose.

“Please, tell me this is just a bad dream”

Monty laughed, “Sorry, mom, you just like to bite people”

The blonde laughed with him, “Didn’t he threaten you by saying the incident doesn’t leave the dropship?”

Monty smiled. “Have we left this room?”

Clarke’s grin grew bigger.

“I like the way you think”

Wells waltzed in tossing Clarke a bag, his own hung loosely over his shoulder. Monty handed her a small first aid kit and final supplies, he looked between her and Wells with something akin to pity.

The boy patted her shoulder.

“Play nice mom and bring my brother back. I’ll be working on the wristbands”

Clarke watched the boy climb to the second story of the dropship. She gave a heavy sigh before tossing Wells his food supplies and walked out.

The blonde stopped briefly to see how far the camp has gotten, to her relief their were no more dead kids but within the ten seconds it took her to scout the area she saw three fights brake out and a portion of their wall collapse after just being put up.

Sighing she walked down to where Octavia.

“Hey”

The younger girl jumped from her seat.

“Clarke! You’re up”

The blonde nodded slowly before discreetly offering a chocolate bar that she snagged from a secret compartment that she happened to find after Monty went out to get her breakfast.

“Thanks you—just thanks I guess”

Clarke looked as Octavia snagged the chocolate and quickly shoved it into her pocket.

“It’ll melt—Octavia?”

The girl in question was rubbing her eyes and looked like she was going to start laughing.

“You’re sweet princess. How long have you been a sweet tooth, and where the hell did you get the bar?”

Clarke smiled and brought a finger to her mouth in a shushing motion, “My secret”

The other girl snorted and started grabbing her things, “You guy’s leaving? I’m coming”

“No no no _no._ Not again”

Bellamy stalked up to the small group and glared at her and Wells. Bellamy was done with the truce and Clarke unknowingly was gaining loyalty among some of the kids.

Ignoring the boy Clarke gently pushed Octavia to sit down back on her log before rolling the girl’s pant legs up. Frowning Clarke leaned closer and took a sniff at the gauze that covered the leg, the smell of rot hit her olfactory. Not to old, but concerning.

Clarke looked to Octavia who gave a big, but guilty, grin.

“Octavia did you clean your bandages”

The girl had the decency to look sheepish.

“I’ve been busy”

The blonde shook her head before.

“No excuse, you got me to take medicine and I’ll do the same for you if you don’t go in and tell Monty”

“Clarke!—” Octavia protested but the blonde put her hand over the girl’s mouth and leaned in, eyes filled with a stern sympathy.

“I’ll get you another bar”

Octavia perked up at the bribe, she flicked her eyes to her brother who was glaring at Clarke as he was muttering something to Murphy. She could help but giggle and give the blonde in front of her a thumbs up. She watched as Clarke turned to her brother immediately putting him into a state of raised hackles; Octavia tried thinking of what Wells said about them being friends but the thought only brought on amusement and concern. Those two would kill each other in three weeks time.

“I’m here for you”

Octavia snorted, and Wells gave her and the blonde exasperated looks.

“Clarke, I’m asking as a concerned character, but what are you doing?”

The blonde ignored him and rove her eyes over Bellamy.

“I hear you have a gun”

Octavia’s brother lifted the back of his shirt slightly to reveal the small black handle. She watched as Clarke’s unimpressed face looked at the gun, no doubt thinking about a way to get her hands on it.

“Good, follow me”

Octavia watched in amusement as her brother got more and more angry at the blonde in front of him. Bellamy crossed his arms with a mocking smile,

“And why would I do something like that?”

Clarke smirked and nodded to the kids who started watching the interaction between the two stubborn shifters.

“Because you want _them_ to follow you, and they’re only thinking _one_ of us is scared”

Clarke chomped her teeth together earning a icy glare from the older boy in front of her; her grin widened when she heard Octavia burst out laughing before the girl slammed her hand over her mouth.

“Murphy, with me. Atom, anyone who touches my sister answers to me; she also doesn’t leave camp, let’s go”

The angry male walked off, oblivious of Octavia sticking her tongue out at him. She gave a thumbs up to Clarke before limping to the drop ship with an annoyed Atom following close behind.

Clarke heard Octavia say she was going to make Atom’s life a ‘living hell’ before following Bellamy out of the camp.

The quartet walked through the forest with enough tension to fill the Ark to the brim.

Murphy tagged closely behind Bellamy, his lips curled back when he looked at the blonde.

“Since when were we in the rescuing business?”

Bellamy smirked, “The Ark’s precious prince is dead, or so they think, if the princess were to go off the grid then they’ll never come down. I’m getting that wristband, even if I have to cut her hand off”

Wells looked at a chucking Murphy wearily,

“Clarke, these people aren’t just bullies, but dangerous criminals”

The blonde brushed his hand off with an ease that hurt him deep.

“I’m counting on it”

Back at the camp Octavia hound herself locked on the upper floor of the dropship after poking Atom one to many times.

She pulled at the locked hatch,

“This the best you’ve got? I was locked under the floor for sixteen years for being born, this is _nothing_ ”

She groaned into her arm, Atom was a cute kid but a pain in the ass with no sense of humor. She jumped when she heard someone clear their throat.

“Ahem. Keep it down? I need to concentrate”

The girl sighed and made her way over to the boy.

“So, how you think the rescuing is going?”

Monty snorted. “With your brother and Clarke? Earther really good or really bad”

Octavia brushed a hand through her long-matted strands, “No kidding”


	14. Jasper's rescue II

Bellamy loped after the blonde and grabbed her wrist that held the wristband in one hand while he took out the gun in his other.

“What’s the rush? Goggles probably didn’t survive the spear to the chest”

Wells glared at the elder male, “Put the gun away Bellamy”

Murphy scoffed, pushing Wells away,

“Why don’t you do something about it?”

The two were faced to face, beast scents mingling with the promise of a sparring match. Clarke stopped huffing out a curse before turning around at the two boys acting like bully yard idiots. Clarke glared at Bellamy,

“Jasper screamed when he was moved, his heart wasn’t hit. Still doesn’t mean we can waste time”

The older boy sauntered closer and held the wristband between them, “As soon as this goes, so can we”

She ripped her hand away with a low growl,

“The only way the ark is going to think I’m dead is if I’m dead. Got it?”

“Brave princess”

A Finn pushed through the trees causing all them to jump.

“Find your own nickname. We need to split up and cover more ground, Clarke with me”

Finn hopped away dragging Clarke.

“Better late than never”

Finn flashed her an apologetic and teasing smile, “I like to think so”

Clarke shook her head, they needed to find Jasper not waste it on petty arguments and jokes; he might not have been hit in the heart, but Jasper wasn’t going to make it if he doesn’t get medical treatment, or medicine.

Clarke sighed into her hand, it was all one problem after the next, each being bigger than the last.

They heard the groaning before they saw him.

“The hell is that!”

“Now would be a good time to take out that gun”

Clarke looked toward the boy who was groaning in pain. Jasper was tied into a tree with blood covering him everywhere, even from where she stood, Clarke could smell infection and rot.

Clarke moved forward, “Jasper?” she called. Clarke made a step forward to help the boy before she felt her body lurch through the ground.

“Clarke!”

Bellamy lunge forward grabbing her wrist, her band once again shone between them.

“Help her up!”

She and Bellamy locked eyes and for a chilling second, she could see him wresting with his beast. She was the rival and all he had to do was let her fall and say she was to heavy. Clarke just whished which part of the boy wanted her dead, well more dead, his wolf or him.

“Come on help him!”

Clarke watched as several pairs of hands enclosed around the older boy, and it was as if the spell was broken, his eyes clean and mind clear, Bellamy yanked her up with ease.

“Clarke you okay?”

She was staring back watching the emotions that flew across Bellamy’s eyes, all to fast to be made real sense of unfortunately. Clarke felt her beast raging against her ribs, wanting blood for a butyral from a person she didn’t knew or trusted, less to say she was a bit confused,

“Clarke,” a hand gripped her shoulder, “I said are you okay?”

Finn and Wells looked down at her with concern, quickly she flashed a smile that brought ease to their faces.

“Yeah, just…winded. I can climb but that doesn’t mean I like to fall”

Finn still looked uneasy but continued to move through the underbrush, Wells tried to follow but was stopped.

“I’ll climb, stay with Clarke and watch _him_ ”

There was no space for question on who he was referring to, Wells nodded, and Finn motioned for Murphy to follow.

“He has a pulpous on his wound”

Wells looked at the hanging boy skeptically, “Why put medicine on him and then string him as bait?

Bellamy looked upward at the boy, “Maybe what the grounder were hunting likes breathing food”

Finn shook his head and shouted back, “Maybe what they’re trying to catch is us”

 

The boys worked to get Jasper down, not that surprisingly it was taking longer than planned. A slip here, a half-fall there, swearing and curing all around.

“Hurry up Murphy”

“Fuck off space walker”

Did Clarke forget to mention everyone was getting grumpy from the lack of any real food and the overwhelming amount of bullshit that has occurred so far.

“Be careful”

“Calm down mom—what was that?”

A cracking of twigs stopped everyone. Then there was a growl.

“What the hell was that? Please tell me that was you princess”

Clarke looked away from glaring at Murphy and back towards the underbrush that filled the hollow, it wasn’t till now that Clarke noticed they were in the open with a dense wall of vegetation obscuring their view. It was a kill box, may be not for them, but it wasn’t working in their favor.

The light padding stopped, Clarke felt her beast rear up in warning.

“Bellamy gun!”

From the corner of her eye Clarke saw the older boy reach behind him only to bring up empty hands.

A dark figure surged from the undergrowth towards the group, dark and sleek. It was a panther, it locked eyes on Clarke and she felt her hackles rise.

*Bam*Bam*Bam*

The third bullet pierced it’s hide but didn’t stop the beast from moving into a patch of bramble only feet away. It was Wells who possessed their only firearm, and she knew he had to be terrified if he missed because he rarely did in training.

The bushes shuffled back and forth as the beast zipped through the undergrowth near Bellamy. Wells stepped back looking into Clarke’s eyes for any sign of madness or a bursting beast but quickly turned back again when the blonde zeroed in on the bushes to the far left of Bellamy.

A crack, a jump, a shot, and after the dying roar of the panther withered out were all that was heard before silence descended on the open hollow.

Clarke analyzed Wells as he dropped the now empty gun, she noticed the two boys staring at her.

“Now she sees you” says Bellamy.

Clarke scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, maybe it had something to do with what him and Wells were talking about earlier. All she knew was that: 1) Wells was still a grate shot as ever, 2) Jasper needed to be taken back to camp ASAP.

Jasper groaned and moaned all the way back to the camp. Monty shot out of the dropship at the sight of his brother.

“Is he…?”

Clarke could see the fear in Monty’s eyes as his best friend slumped over her shoulder into the blissful world of the unconscious.

“Alive, boil water and get clean bandages”

Clarke looked over her shoulder as Bellamy and Murphy showed everyone the panther that Wells killed, and the kids roared at the chance for food. Some part of her was happy that they had something that could last them that much longer, but part of her quieted at seeing the beautiful creature get torn to shreds for its meat.

There would be no pelt to admire, nor one to make any sort of cloth or blanket, even if it was big enough.

She caught Wells’ eyes, he saw the same potential for madness in the camp as she did. Clarke also thought she saw a glimpse of guilt pass through the boy’s eyes but blamed it on the flickering of the firelight and her exhaustion.

She turned and started working on Jasper, when she was done she stopped next to Finn who was gazing at the crowd.

“How is he?”

Clarke looked at Finn, his own exhaustion prevalent on his features.

“Stable but without proper medicine…”

She trailed off when she saw what the kids were lined up for.

“They’re taking off the wristbands for food, as a charge? No way in hell am—”

Finn patted her shoulder.

“You won’t have to”

Clarke watch Finn saunter over to the fire where Murphy was breaking off the wristbands with a metal rod. Finn snatched a piece of meat and turned around, Clarke saw Murphy level a glare at the other boy.

“Wait, you think you play by different rules?”

Finn turned back around and waved his stick of meat in the air, “I thought there were no rules”

For a second Clarke thought Murphy looked impressed, she trotted down the dropship steps and plucked her own piece of meat from the fire. Murphy didn’t try to stop her, but she did hear a curse from him.

She and Finn were walking off when she saw another kid try what they did, he wasn’t so fortunate. Bellamy barged through the crowed and took the kid’s claimed piece of meat before slugging the boy across the face. He was glaring at Murphy when she and Finn moved from the fireside to a more calming and less crowding place.

She didn’t know how long the poor kid Bellamy knocked out stayed down, but she did know that she was probably going to see him soon.


	15. Recovery

“Three eighty”

Clarke sighed. At least Jasper was breathing, Clarke placed the boy’s arm down. Jasper gave a painful groan that echoed through the dropship.

“Quiet!”

“Just die already!”

Clarke growled under her breath at the other delinquents and their blatant disregard for a fellow inmate. She rubbed her hand through Jasper’s locks.

“You’ll live. Promise”

Jasper let out a louder cry of pain which only brought more complaints from outside. Clarke turned to Monty.

“I’m going to get more water, keep an eye on Jasper” Clarke said, she offered a small smile to Monty who looked to have almost fully recovered from Japer’s kidnapping.

“See you later mom” Monty replied with his own gently smile that had genuine gratitude laced through it.

 

Clarke pushed out of the dropship into the lovely sight of kids flopped every which way and the mix smell of piss and vomit. Lovely.

“No. No. No.”

Clarke stilled at the whimpering noise, she watched as no one else did anything to see what was wrong. Slowly Clarke weaved between the trees as she followed the woeful cry of whoever was calling.

“No.No!”

It was a girl, backed up against a tree asleep with her blonde hair twitching with each shake of her body.

Clarke kneeled and gently shook the girl’s shoulder. “Hey, shush, it’s only a dream. Charlotte, right?”

The girl jumped awake and pressed herself deeper into the trunk, tears slid down her cheeks as she shook her head.

“Yeah”

Clarke offered a small smile, nor more than a twitch of her lips, and slid down next to the girl. “Wanna talk about it?”

Charlotte snuggled into the older blonde’s side, though she remained quiet for some time. Clarke didn’t blame the girl, sometimes the best thing to do is let someone have their piece in the quiet. She was like that once. For minutes the two just huddled together in the muggy night, watching the stars and the flickering fire.

“It was my parents”

Clarke, half asleep, startled a bit at the girl hushed whisper.

“They were floated and in my dreams…”

Clarke tightened the arm that was around the smaller girl, “I understand” she whispered back. “My dad was floated too…How did you end up with the rest of these rag tag ruffians?”

The younger blonde dug deeper into her side and nuzzled into her neck.

“We were taking my parents things to the redistribution center and I…lost it. They said I attacked a guard. I don’t remember much”

Clarke ran her fingers through the younger girl’s hair hoping to bring some comfort to the girl.

“Can’t say I blame you. See that bright star” Clarke pointed through the tree’s canopy. “It’s the Ark, moving over us and I think…I think that whatever happened up there, the pain, can be moved past now that we got down here. Maybe it’s our second chance”

Charlotte didn’t look convinced, “You sure about that?”

Clarke patted the girl’s knee.

“I’m trying to Charlotte, I’m trying to”

She hugs the small girl closer to her chest and lays deeper into the root system, watching the Ark float amongst the stars as sleep slowly settles over.

 

The night was pleasant and peaceful, the next day however…Clarke hated hearing Jasper cry out in pain, she gently cleaned another cut on the boy’s chest and received a louder cry as the result.

“The grounders cauterized the wound. It’s what saved his life”

Finn shook his head. He was watching Clarke play doctor to the poor boy screaming in agony. “To string him up as bait, Earth isn’t the little fun fest we thought it was”

Clarke leaned closer to the boy’s chest, nostrils flaring,

“He’s infected, possibly septic…any news on contacting the Ark?”

Monty sighed heavily and passed her another washcloth,

“That’s a no”

Clarke shook her head and moved to Jasper’s lower abdomen.

“How’s he doing?”

For once Clarke snapped at Wells not for damning her father but because of her shortening patience with the whole situation along with the screams of the boy writhing under her fingers.

“How the hell do you think it’s going Wells!”

The boy puts his hands up trying to placate the angry blonde.

“Just trying to help, okay Clarke”

The girl sighs and rubs beading sweat off her forehead, it’s been three hours since she’s been working on Jasper. She looked back down at Jasper, mind starting to race again, she had a feeling that Jasper’s injuries were going to look like papercuts compared to what could possibly happen with the grounders.

“You wanna help? Hold him down”

She picked up a blade and held it in the fire, she heard Monty shuffle closer,

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Clarke shook her head as Jasper moaned in pain. Again. She brought the blade out and it shone with a beautiful bright light that could only be recreated by things that bring pain.

“No, Monty, none of us is going to like this”

 

Clarke was working but Jasper’s thrashing was making it a lot harder than it already was.

“Hold him still, the infected flesh needs to be stripped away”

A loud clang shook the dropship and Octavia came hurtling in,

“Stop you’re killing him”

Finn looked up to the quickly panicking girl, “She’s saving him”

“She can’t it’s too late”

Great, Clarke thought, now we’ve escalated the problem from dying boy to fuckin’ piss boy rebel king.

Wells moved in front of Bellamy, “Back off”

Clarke locked eyes with the new comer, “We didn’t drag him miles just to let him die”

Clarke watched as Bellamy stared down the boy but didn’t try to challenge Wells, didn’t stop him from being an ass.

“The kid’s a goner, if you can’t see that than you’re more than delusional”

Clarke snapped, “Sorry if Jasper’s life is an inconvenience, this is Earth not the Ark. _Every_ life matters”

“He’s a lost cause”

Octavia kneeled on Clarke’s right and watched Clarke continue to clean the wounds. “It’s okay Octavia, I’ve spent my whole life watching my mother heal, I may not have her exact experience; but, if I say there’s hope then there is hope”

Bellamy’s scoff was sour, “It’s not about hope it’s about guts, to make the hard choices…it’s been several days, if he isn’t well by tomorrow morning than I’m killing him”

He turns to leave and calls out, “Let’s go Octavia”

Clarke watches the girl’s face harden and move closer to her right.

“I’m staying”

Clarke gets watches the pain flash across the boy’s eyes before lowering to the second level of the dropship.

Monty hisses once Bellamy is out of sight, “He a self-serving, power hungry jackass” He looks frightened for a second and looks at Octavia, “No offense”

Finn moved from his haunches to the balls of his toes, “He may be but he’s right”

Clarke stops herself from snapping, her beast not liking being questioned and oddly placated by the scent of blood. At least she’s satisfied for now.

 

It’s only a couple hours before Clarke found herself on another adventure looking for red water weed that has antibiotic properties, running for her life from orange fog that sent all the birds flying away, and stuck in a hundred plus year old vehicle that both saved her and her companions from the fog but also got her into a bitter drunken stupor that left her questioning who was and wasn’t guilty in her life.

In the hours more trapped in the covered vehicle she thought of one of the last times she and her father talked, how she found her father videoing his findings of the ark; and how she said her father was moronic for doing what he was planning to do, at least it was moronic if he didn’t let her help. Her father had said no to her help, but she could see that he knew he would most likely need it.

She remembers the guards crashing their door open and arresting her father, of her father having to calm her beast with a hug that felt like a promise that will never be fulfilled, and how he tried to stop her from following his footsteps. In the end they took him away and she disobeyed her father’s wishes and went to the communication mainframes, if only she had been faster than her father’s death wouldn’t have been for nothing. Then there was the also the accident of going mad when her father got floated…

“Aaaah!”

A scream ripped Clarke from her thoughts and memories.

“Who was that?”

Finn and Wells followed Clarke as she rushed through the forest. Braking through the unbrushed led to a sight she didn’t want to see but knew she had to get used to.

It was Bellamy, and he was kneeling over a body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I do not own the franchise the 100. Also you can find the transcript dialogue on their Tv wiki in case people wanted to look it up


	16. Mercy

Clarke hears the two boys behind her swear. Just another day on the home world of the human race, what could possibly go wrong.

“You two go back to camp, start preparing the water weed”

Finn shook his head, “He has a knife, Clarke. Don’t forget he almost took out your leg”

Clarke gave Finn a stern look but patted his shoulder in thanks, “Don’t forget who almost ripped his throat out either”

Finn reluctantly started moving after Wells gave him a small push from the back, Wells looked to Clarke, but the girl wouldn’t look at him, still. It might have been worth the pain to keep the secret about her father’s death, that doesn’t mean it hurts any less. He turned to follow the other boy when he felt a hand on his elbow.

“Be careful, set a dish of water and clean cloths to the side and…thanks”

Wells watched as the blonde made her way toward the dying boy in the clearing. Despite the roughness of the thanks, he was glad to see a small part of the Clarke not hostile toward him anymore. He glanced one more time at his best friend before turning to follow Finn.

 

Clarke was five paces from Bellamy when the boy turned his head half way acknowledging her presence. His expression on his face brought a restlessness in her, it had to take a lot to make the boy in front of her look helpless.

“I heard screams” It was the only thing she could offer for an explanation.

Bellamy’s eyes were so open and expressive at this moment, no guard or anger. Just sinking despair at the boy dying in front of him

“Charlotte found him, I sent her back”

He was looking at her similarly to how he was in the dropship, this time though it had a pleading in it, maybe some of her words did get to him; but, Clarke could tell from the burned skin of Atom and his glassy eyes…he wasn’t going to make it. There wasn’t any hope.

Clarke and Bellamy looked at each other before Clarke made one last diagnosis, in chance of there being any way to save the boy lying between them. There wasn’t.

 

Bellamy saw Clarke shake her head at Atom’s state. She was the doctor or the best that the camp had for a doctor, her call was it. Atom wouldn’t survive.

“I’m going to help you, okay?”

Bellamy swallowed and looked back down at the boy writhing in pain, he gave a minute nod and saw Clarke move closer to the boy before them and brush the sweaty hair of Atom back in place.

“Hm hm humm Hm hu humm”

Bellamy couldn’t help but look to the blonde humming, it looked so out of place but at the same time there was a serenity in it. She took the knife out of his loose gripped hand as Atom’s breaths became more ragged and forced.

He watched as she pushed the knife through Atom’s throat with the gentlest movement he’s seen in a long while, it was efficient and effortless. Clarke continued to hum away as Atom’s blood, and life, poured away. He could only look at the blonde in front of him, the princess of the Ark was kind in death and brutal in life; Bellamy couldn’t wrap his head around her, but he couldn’t deny a small part of him was thankful that she was down on Earth with them. If she wasn’t…

Bellamy didn’t want to think what would have happened to the others who’ve been injured, forget the broken bones and cuts, if anyone got hit like Jasper or Atom then the camp was screwed.

Bellamy was brought out of his thoughts when he finally noticed there wasn’t anymore humming. He looked to the blonde in front of him, it was easy to see she was deep in thought and on no happy ones either.

H gulps and licks his lips, but every attempt to say something falls flat in the silence. It doesn’t seem to matter through as princess looks at him, offering her own small smile in comfort, Bellamy had a feeling that she would take care of the camp which put him at ease, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay if the Ark came down.

“We need to move”

Bellamy looked at the girl, anguish was in her eyes and yet she still held herself strong.

“Yeah” he murmured.

Neither moved for a good hour.

 

Clarke and Bellamy met Wells outside the gates, night had fallen, and it just seemed to put an even bigger damper on the already drenched mood.

Wells looked at the two and the dead boy wrapped in cloth.

He gave a sympathetic smile to Clarke knowing she was beating herself up for not being able to help, even if it wasn’t her fault.

“To late?”

To his surprise the blonde offered her own minuscule smile in return.

“To much damage. Not natural”

Wells raised an eyebrow to that and the blonde huffed in exhaustion.

“Those burns were not normal, not natural. It smelled man-made, but the grounders don’t have any sort of way to create chemical weapons…at least I hope not, were screwed enough as it is”

Wells glanced at the stoic Bellamy, even he seemed to have been disturbed by what happened today.

“Let’s get on inside” He motioned for the guards to open the gates, they sneered at him but seeing as he was with Bellamy decided against saying anything.

The three walked through the gate and were greeted by chatter. Ignoring them Clarke hurried on through.

“The supplies”

Wells nodded, “Already boiling and Monty is prepping while Octavia is disinfecting cloths”

Clarke nodded and heard the chattering rise in the back ground, as more people came forward to see what was happening she knew that they would find out what happened to Atom.

“Get Clarke whatever she needs”

Wells whistled lowly, “I better go get that grave dug…seems like you made an ally”

Clarke looked to the boy who was grinning next to her, she growled lightly in laughter. The irony didn’t escape her, she and Bellamy may not be friends, but they did come to an understanding somehow that there were bigger problems than their little pissing contests, it only took several deaths for it to come to light.

Octavia burst from the drop ship, “It’s about time. They’re going to kill Jasper! Do you have the medicine?”

Wells gave her a salute and didn’t look the least bit sorry as he left to dig a grave, he knew he was the lucky one because he didn’t have to deal with a dying friend or an Octavia on the war path.

Clarke looked at the younger girl in sympathy and hoped she came out as calming, “Yeah, we have it. Let’s get to work”

She saw that the younger girl finally noticed the growing crowed and before Clarke could get Octavia in the ship the girl slipped under her towards Bellamy.

“Octavia just stay there”

Clarke caught Bellamy’s eyes for a second, panic and pain laced through his irises. He was a good brother despite some questionable actions, but this moment he was trying to save Octavia some pain. As always though the girl didn’t listen.

Her heart broke for the Blake siblings that were at odds with each other. Clarke watched as Bellamy almost broke in front of the crowed as he tried to explain what happened but she could see that none of it was getting through to Octavia; who quickly turned on her heel and stormed towards her. Clarke didn’t say anything to the fuming and mourning girl, she just held the drop ship’s curtains open; besides they needed to work on saving Jasper’s life so that he didn’t end up like Atom.

Upon arriving to the bedside of Jasper, Clarke felt relieved for once in the long day that she had, her friends did wat she instructed them to do. Jasper had a fighting chance, they had hope.

Clarke worked thoroughly and quietly letting the silence fill in the gaps of the room, at least until she heard Octavia give a sniffle.

“I’m sorry about Atom” Not about killing him though, he was in too much pain, and that’s saying something considering she’s see burn victims that had nothing but charcoal skin. Clarke didn’t draw with her own chancel set for three months after.

Octavia sighed with a quiet voice, “Guess we’re gonna have to get used to people dying down here aren’t we?”

She moved over and held Jasper’s face, and it brought a new tear in Clark’s heart, “But not you. You hear me? You’re not allowed to die”

Clarke sighed and flopped onto one of the blankets and tossed an arm over her eyes. She almost slid into a peaceful sleep when a hand began shaking her leg. She pulled part of the blanket over her head.

“Clarke you need to eat, there still might be some food left”

“Monty” she whined, “It’s fine, I can eat int the—”

A body flopped on top of her, her precious breath couldn’t stay in her lungs though.

“Sorry”

Clarke growled and turned over only to find Octavia snuggling into her side. Sighing she patted the younger girl on the head.

“What do you need?”

Monty snorted before smirking and flopping on the both of them.

“Hey, Monty!”

Octavia pushed the laughing boy off.

“Just want to make sure mom gets dinner”

Clarke glared at the boy but didn’t have any heat in her sight, “You’re grounded Monty”

“Hah!” Octavia threw a pillow at the boy’s head.

“You too Octavia”

“What, unfair!”

Finn snorted at their shenanigans and unlatched the hatch that lead toward the only exit in the dropship.

“I’ll watch them princess, they’re only the brainiac boy and the crazy aunt. What could possibly go wrong?”

When Clarke didn’t move from her dog pile Finn put his hands on his hips and gave her a disapproving look.

“Seriously, Clarke you need to eat. You’re our only doctor or the closest to a doctor”

“You guys did pretty good”

The boy sighed, “With your instructions”

Clarke began to protest when she was tackled from behind by the two pillows that wouldn’t stop wresting with each other.

“He’s right go get something Clarke”

The blond sighed, she had her hands tied, “None of you are going to relent, are you”

Octavia snorted, “Not in the slightest”, but the girl snuggled closer to her and Clarke could feel her trembling, it was subtle, but it was there. She could only guess that Octavia was starting to develop some sort of separation anxiety. Though given how everyone who the girl was warming up to left only to show up dead Clarke didn’t blame the girl for her clinginess.

She patted the younger girl’s cheek, nuzzled her head, and ruffled Mont’s hair before getting up for food.

“See you late. Oh, don’t forget to change the bandage—”

“Every hour” the three coursed back at her.

Clarke felt her cheeks heating up, she was starting to become a mothering hen. She left her laughing friends and descended the latter. From above she heard Octavia whisper, “She’s almost as bad as Bellamy”

Clarke could detect the bitterness int the younger girl’s voice, but there was a fondness and understanding in it too.

Clarke smiled, the two siblings should get along soon once they cooled off. She hopped off the latter the rest of the way and slinked away towards some meat that was freshly placed on the fire. She sat purring as the smell wafted towards her, it wasn’t long till her stomach was growling in tune with her beast for a nice bloody steak, or at least what passed for one down here on Earth.

She was about to take a big bite into the grease sputtering filet when she caught eyes over the fire.


	17. Wells' Will

Bellamy sat in front of the fire. He couldn’t get Octavia’s face out of his brain, she was his sister, his responsibility. And he failed.

He looked up, the kids were still running around despite several days being down on Earth and multiple deaths of their friends, yet he felt more at ease knowing that there was still some peace if it means they felt safe enough to just be what they were. Kids.

Bellamy couldn’t refrain from letting his head fall into his hands, his fingers sliding through his greasy locks, he hoped to rub away the frustration and fear but there was no relief with the temporary pain.

He huffed out a big sigh and reached for a hanging piece of meat. At least the one of the hunting parties was successful today.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t want to cry, but then there would be mass panic, that and the fact that Murphy would label him as weak and attempt to usurp him. Bellamy slid off the log and leaned back, the bark bit at him but he didn’t mind. He looked to the stars and felt his eyes grow misty again. He stared at the moon and felt his beast, his wolf, cry out his own sorrow to the only constant friend that would lay bare and ungrudging.

He prayed there wouldn’t be any rain.

“Rrrah!”

Bellamy looked up at the sound of a cry? baby? What? Bellamy sat up straighter and caught sight of princess about to take a big bite out of one of the pieces of meat, of course she would just take it without paying with her wristband. Again.

He watched as the startled girl locked eyes with him, she turned more curious with each passing second, she cocked her head but snorted when he didn’t say anything.

“It’s rude to stare”

Bellamy blinked. “It’s rude to make noises while you eat”, he ran a hand down his face. Could they not get along unless someone was dying?

He thinks about his threat to kill Jasper and decides that he and the princess will always be at odds with each other.

“There is always noise while someone eats”

Bellamy huffed and started nibbling on his own dinner, he had no energy for this.

He jumped when a body sat down next to him.

“You okay?”

Bellamy scooted farther away from the blonde and tucked his arms in closer to his sides as he took a bigger bite.

“Bellamy? Hey, Bellamy” She poked him with the tip of the steak’s stick, right on a bruise.

“Ow! Stop that” He swatted the stick away and did a double take. Clarke was licking her fingers in one hand while the other was curled in her lap. Her steak was gone, and it was there a second ago.

His confusion must have shone on his face because the blonde was laughing, freely in front of _him_ he might add.

“Where did—”

“To my stomach” she chirped.

When he didn’t offer anything more she rolled her eyes.

“Steak go into mouth down esophagus into stom—”

Bellamy could feel the vein in his face throb, “I know how consumption becomes digestion princess, I just—you only took—how did so much get eaten in such little time?”

Clarke shrugged and settled farther down in front of the log looking content and as happy as the cat that caught the canary.

“I was hungry”

“And I’m the princess”

Bellamy ripped off  a bigger chunk of meat to prove a point and almost choked. The hell, did the girl inhale it?

He glared at the blonde who was chuckling.

“Congrats, you’re the new queen”

Bellamy found himself chuckling despite his irritation, they weren’t supposed to get along in the slightest.

“That means I out rank you”

Clarke stretched over the log, her back popped and it sounded so good that Bellamy felt his own knots wanting to be released.

“Yeah, and you’ll be the first to get your head chopped off, I can get away when they watch your head roll”

He snorted and continued eating. He wiped his cheek after a particularly juicy bite. “You know, you’re a bit on the morbid side princess”

“And you’re a bigger softy than I thought, my queen; I didn’t peg you for a teddy bear with glamorous amounts of hair gel”

Clarke held her hands up as Bellamy growled at her, but she couldn’t help the grin that was spreading across her face.

“Don’t worry it looks better now that the gel is gone”

“That’s not nice”

“And neither is threatening to cut someone’s hand off because they aren’t giving up their wristband”

Bellamy tosses his own stick in the fire and watches as the fire consumed it. Silence engulfed the two as they sat mesmerized by the fire and the background noise of the kids playing.

When Clarke got up Bellamy found himself grabbing her wrist, him and her may be at each other’s throats more so than necessary but she seemed to understand the real pressures of what’s going on. She’s the only one who has been able to keep anyone alive and away from death’s doors.

“Thanks”

Bellamy winced at himself, it was rocky at best, and it was begrudging almost to the point of being a ball of spit on the ground. He was never one to play well with others.

Clarke gently pulled off his hand and held it in hers as she kneeled in front of him. “For whatever you’re thanking me for you shouldn’t, I haven’t done anything outstanding”

Clarke watched the boy laugh bitterly in her face, he didn’t remove his hand though, so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Always the prestigious princess, so humble and—”

Clarke flung his hand away. So much for an olive branch she thought.

“The hell is wrong with you, you don’t know anything about me so stop with the prestigious bullshit”

Bellamy was shocked but covered quickly, “Look, I was just trying to say thanks—” he gulped at the memory of Atom’s plead for death.

“For earlier with…Atom”

“By dicking on the person who helped, that’s one hell of a way to say thank you” Clarke was snarling with a renewed anger and she found herself pacing the fire.

When she glared at the boy again he had the decency to appear a bit shamed of his actions.

“Princess—”

She growled lowly, “I may not have been starving on the Ark, Bellamy, but I’m sure as hell sure you weren’t around death as much as I was”

That quieted the bastard. She stalked several more paces, each time coming around to say something but stopped just short, so she didn’t start a shouting match this late into the night; it was a shame really considering that they were almost allies for a few minutes, but now it was back to square one.

Clarke came back around one final time, she didn’t bother looking at the eldest of the hundred as she spoke.

“Look just keep the past of the Ark up there in space, it’s a new chance for _all_ of us down here. It goes for you, me, Octavia, and all the others. We help each other when were in need, I won’t bother you if you don’t bother me. Good night”

Bellamy watched as the girl turned away, he felt a small cry of guilt echo in himself and he could feel the disappointment of his wolf, who was apparently content and not angry or angsty for once.

“And Bellamy…”

He looked up to the blonde that was looking over her shoulder.

“Don’t beat yourself up over Octavia she’ll come around, you just have to let her be herself. Don’t coddle her or else it will kill her”

Without waiting for him to reply the blonde disappeared from his sight and into the darkness.

 

Clarke trudged out into the woods toward the graves. She saw Wells lean against the shovel that was stuck in the freshly packed Earth.

“Wells?” Clarke found herself stopping, hesitant to confront what she was running from for the past year and more.

“I—I know I probably don’t deserve this, but I need the truth”

Clarke huffed dejectedly when she saw how nervous Wells was getting, so it was true.

“It was my mother, wasn’t it? I didn’t want to believe, I couldn’t. She told your father didn’t she, I blamed you for my father’s death and it’s my mother’s fault”

Wells offered a jittery smile, “I knew how you would feel I wanted to…you know”

Wells shrugged awkwardly on the shovel. Clarke couldn’t help but let a small half grin slip onto her face.

“To protect me. In doing so you let me hate you? Why?”

Wells smile grew stronger, “What are friends for?”

Clarke hung her head, tears were starting to press against her eyelids before sliding freely down her face. A snot bubble popped with her sobs.

“How can you forgive me?”

Wells shrugged, “It’s always been done, you never needed it”

Clark let another hiccup out and tackled Wells in another bear hug. She swore that she was the only one crying but she felt damp tears run down her forehead and knew otherwise.

“Why are you crying?”

Wells snorted, “Because your face looks funny and it’s probably better than laughing right now”

Clarke slapped his chest but couldn’t contain her own laughter which was soon joined by Wells’ own.

“It’s good to have my best friend back”

Clarke looked him in the eyes and felt like she was going to cry all over again.

“It’s good to have mine back as well, but no more lying okay. Even if it means we get hurt”

Wells nodded quickly with pursed lips, but Clarke could see him trying to suppress his grinning.

“Sure”

She snorted, “No, you agreed too quickly, now I _know_ you’re lying to me”

Wells held his arms up in a shrug but only smiled more as he bounced from foot to foot.

“I know, but I also know what will make us happier”

Clarke felt the old mischievousness of their past come flying by, she rose a blonde brow all tears forgotten.

“Oh, and what’s that?”

Wells’ grin increased tenfold, “A fight”

Clarke was shocked and felt her walls shoot up, “Wells it’s late and last time I shifted—I also need to go back and check on Jasper”

Wells snorted, “What do you think the rest of your rag tag shaggy group is doing”

“Drinking probably, Finn brought the whisky back” Clarke huffed the hair out of her face, “I only came out for dinner”

“And now you’re on another adventure”

She ran a hand through her knotted hair, “Don’t those end with bodily injury or death usually?”

“It’s just going to be like how our fathers trained us—ur sorry I didn’t mean—I—sorry”

Clarke squeezed his shoulder, “Hey, I owe you more than I will ever be able to repay—”

“Clarke you don’t owe your friends”

She held up a hand, “Still Wells, you don’t have to tiptoe around be, please don’t. But the fact still stands we can’t spar until I have my beast controlled.

“Then you need to learn, and we can start tonight”

He grabbed her wrist as they walked farther from the camp, they chased each other and hopped over things just like when they were little, and it freed some of the tremendous weight that had been weighing down Clark’s soul.

“Last one to the top of the next ridge has to do the other’s laundry for a week”

Clarke snorted, “Make it three”

Wells nodded, “Okay one—Clarke! Not fair”

The blonde laughed as she sprinted ahead, she tore through the trees easily as she jumped through fallen logs that forced Wells to go around. For a second Wells overlapped her, but when he started crawling up the incline of the ridge he found himself face first with a mouth foot of dirt.

He looked up to see the blonde laughing down at him and he couldn’t keep his face strait long enough.

“Did you seriously just use me as a human spring board?”

Clarke snorted and leaned back gazing at the stars, “Nah, just a soft squishy step”

“Come on” he snorted.

He saw as the smile slipped from his best friend’s face.

“What’s wrong Clarke”

She offered only a long sigh for the longest of moments before looking at him, “I know we came out to help my…problem, but Wells you have to know that this isn’t going to go as planned”

Wells nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, but it’s better to get it out now while were away from camp and that there are no grounders than in the middle of the oncoming storm”

When the blonde didn’t move Wells huffed out an exasperated sigh.

“If you’re really that opposed to the idea—”

“I just don’t want to lose control Wells, what if I go mad, what if the beast takes over and doesn’t want to relinquish control?”

He hugged the blonde, whispering “You are one and the same, two souls per body Clarke. You have to trust your beast because she’s you and you’re her. You have great control, if you didn’t you would have changed and gone permanently mad by now.

“Bet Wells I did when we went for food” she whined.

He shook her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes.

“Clarke you are hurting her and therefor yourself, you used to talk to your beast all the time when you were younger. Sure, you didn’t shift much, I’m sure it has bit you in the butt by now when you shifted, but you rarely ignored her. Clarke you lost connection to yourself, you taught me the importance of that connection.”

He stepped back and looked towards the glowing dot int the sky that was the Ark.

“I think that’s why you never went mad till you were in extremely…emotional situations. I hope you realize that people don’t talk to their beasts like you do or used to. People only listen, but you—you would talk back. I don’t know how many times I caught you talking to yourself in the hallways and med bay only to find out you were talking to your beast”

Wells hoped he was getting to her, ever since he learned what Clarke did and tried for himself all those years ago, he has never felt alone. Even when his best friend was locked in solitary.

He might have felt lonely, but he was never alone. Unlike Clarke who practically shut herself off from everything after the death—no murder—of her father.

“The argument between you and your beast has been in the making for more than a year”.

Clarke frowned at him in the adorable way that she always did.

“Fine” she begrudgingly replied.

“Really!”

Clarke looked surprised at Wells’ face which mirrored her own.

“Why do you look surprised, you’re right when you said I haven’t talked to her…and about other things”

Wells snorted, “I didn’t expect you to agree so easily given how stubborn you are”

She wacked him playfully, “Jerk”

“Pretty sure that’s Bellamy or Murphy”

Wells feigned hurt when she slapped him again, this time mockingly fainting onto the ground.

“Oh, how you wound me so Lady Clarke of the Ark”

“Wells! I think I prefer mom or princess, I thought you got rid of that years ago”

The two snorted out their laughter into the crisp night for a good long while.

“Fine, turn around and go back to the other ridge, you know in case I go—”

“Loco, crazy, mad, bonkers”

“Not helping” she huffed. “Here”

Clarke started stripping off her shirt and tossed it to Wells before going to work on her pants.

“Clarke! Wha—stop that’s not”

She turned to see Wells turned around with his hands over his eyes. It took her a second to process what was occurring before she burst out in boisterous laughter.

“Wells are you embarrassed? We used to take baths together and I for one also know you are not a virgin. If I remember correctly you lost yours before mine”

“Claaaarke!”

She laughed again, “Don’t whine, it’s not like you don’t know what I have for genitals”

He groaned. “Clarke, I swear all doctors and those in the sciences make the most awkward situations worse”

He felt her pants hitting his head with a bit more force than necessary while the belt smacked him in the face, he wasn’t surprised that his nose was smarting.

“Really Wells, those in the sciences know that it’s just genetics and other things such as the penis is just a flesh tool used to get sperm closer to an egg for fertilization. Or that—”

Wells held his ears shut and started making spitting noises. That’s the other thing scientists seem to forget, they might have the logical side down, but their humility and grace was almost always lacking or nonexistent in some places.

He sighed.

“Anything else before I go off—”

A bra and underwear flopped onto his shoulder and he felt his legs become weak, he swore he was having a heart attack.

“Thanks Wells don’t forget three weeks”

He groaned and started walking off to his designated space of safety.

“You’re killing me Clarke”

He heard her snickering for several yards.

 

When he reached his designated area, he folded Clarke’s clothes and put them in his lap as he looked toward the silhouette of her. He could barley make her out, the only reason he really knew she was there was from the blonde of her hair that reflected the moonlight and from her occasional curse that followed something she ran into.

He gave out their call, one for testing if she could still hear him and two to see if she was ready. He barely caught the movement, but he saw her arch her neck toward the moon, almost as if she was howling at it before she replied with the same call.

Wells has always had a fascination of humanity’s shifting capabilities and how they came to be, maybe it was the fact that there was a shared genetic structure with another species almost as if the two species were symbiotic, or maybe it was simply that he like to guess what people’s beasts were, it was his favorite game to play for a long time.

A horrid cracking and pained yell came from Clarke’s direction causing his heart to speed up but knew how painful it was for someone to go three weeks without shifting. Now multiply that by who knows how many times and now they were on the level of pain that Clarke was experiencing. It had to have been brutal.

He gave out the call again and to his great relief received one in return despite it being a sputtering swear filled one.

“You got this Clarke” His encouragement fell away with a beastly cry. He turned back toward the area of the camp, maybe they won’t hear her and come searching for something that made the trees quake and the winds cry.

He could only hope.

Another cry ripped through the trees more bestial than before. A hulking shadow replaced Clarke’s own. She was only in her bipedal form and Wells would be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated; though he might be the only one outside of the family to know what she is besides possibly his father, the was something instinctual that told him to run or at least not act in a way that would make her belligerent.

Clarke stepped higher onto the ridge framed by the moon, and it was as if a spot light was focused solely on her, her coat raced the moons beams across her form, accenting the powerful muscles and half mane that looked almost like a mohawk that curled down her neck and partly over her shoulders and into her chest fur.

Wells always did wonder why Clarke had a half mane, it wasn’t uncommon for the bipedal forms to have some of their human counterpart characteristics given that most of the time they were the half forms, if it wasn’t a NC.

Though the mane was bigger in her full form too, not a complete mane but close to one.

He saw her blue eyes roam the forest, each a glowing diamond. Even from his distance they stood out.

The sound of splintering branches threw him out of his simmering thoughts.

“Clarke?”

When the girl didn’t reply he whistled gently while he started making a pile of his and Clarke’s clothes.

He watched as she ripped a leaning tree completely out of the ground before throwing it into another and bellowing out an angry roar.

Wells quickly found himself shifted into his full form, which was much more smaller than his half shift form but more agile and faster. He quickly grabbed their clothes and backtracked more, he didn’t take his eyes off her as he backed up onto the other side of the ridge.

He looked behind himself once he saw that Clarke was busy ramming herself, head, shoulders, you name it into the trees. The camp was three miles away give or take, if she didn’t calm down within the hour he would have to go back. He and his hound laid patiently on the ridge with his head leaning over it, all he could do was wait patiently as Clarke argued with herself.


	18. Tag

Clarke was scared to say the least, it had been over a year since she really connected with her beast, her lion; after her father’s death she trapped herself with guilt, sorrow, and her drawings. It was painful to even think of the idea of shifting when she was in solitary, even if she had room to shift, her father was the one taught her about her beast while her mother taught her the healing arts. Only one of the traits had a use on the Ark, the other was to remain hidden for all eternity.

She looked at the moon and stars, taking her time and procrastinating as much as she can. Clarke could remember looking out the ports to at the same set of moon and stars, it was probably one of the few things she missed on the Ark, on it they had telescopes that could give more detail than the human eye, which helped when she was drawing.

Letting out a sigh Clarke stretched hoping to prevent the most amount of pain that she could, it didn’t help that she’s seen what happens at the shifter parties; her mother’s patients came in with dislocated shoulders and torn muscles, plus the occasional claw marks if it was a rowdier ‘party’. She never could distinguish which were from fights and which were from improper shifts.

“Come on Clarke, it’s just Leon, you can do this”

Her last amounts of eagerness and self-motivation fell as beast growled back in irritation; Clarke could feel her beast pacing, but despite the anger Clarke could feel at and in herself there was sorrow too.

She heard a relatively high-pitched whistle, no doubt it was Wells given he was a worry wart even by _her_ standards. That says something.

Clarke looked back at the moon that bathed the area in its beautiful lights before whistling back her tune.

It was now or never.

She thought about opening herself to Leon, taking down each piece of metal wrapped with razor wire; and about the bricks that she would occasionally find herself thinking about to keep out the reality that she was living.

Clarke imagined herself standing in front of Leon, her mane wild yet regal; she remembered a story from her father, about a pride of lions that even the females grew manes. Some manes were luscious and deep black the color of tar, others mangy little things that had the lions looking like big cubs, even more still others fell in between.

Leon’s, and there for her own, was a darker blonde that accented the sun light yellow that was her fur. It wasn’t the first time Clarke thought Leon was more of an empress instead of queen, nor would it be the last.

Clarke couldn’t help but snort, she was outranked by her beast apparently by her own standards. She felt Leon smirk through her, if that was possible both to feel and for a lion to do.

Clarke looked past the moon and to the stars, taking in the beauty of the dying lights she let out a heavy sigh.

“This is going to hurt, isn’t it” Though she whispered the question to her beast both knew it wasn’t to be answered by feelings alone. That didn’t stop the purring satisfaction of Leon’s spite.

“I know Leon, it’s overdue, even before what happened with dad…”

She felt Leon slump with sorrow, Clarke wasn’t the only one to lose someone. She lost her father, Leon lost her mentor. Clarke lost her rock and Leon lost her restraint.

Clarke knows she didn’t always get along with her beast, but they occupied the same body and the same soul (well it would be argued that Leon was her soul, but when she brought the topic up when she was a kid/cub Leon didn’t understand and was to restless to sit around thinking). That made them connected, they felt each other’s sorrow even when walls were built.

Clarke missed the silk fur of her father on the few occasions they shifted together for practice, she also missed her father’s beast’s purr that lulled her to sleep when she’d wake from nightmares; Clarke also knew Leon missed her father and not just his beast, missed the patient understanding that she herself didn’t master till much later, of the calm that he exuded.

They were connected, and they were innate.

Clarke felt the corner of her lip heighten, a grin threatened to show, “Family talks were never our fortes”

A reluctant purr of acknowledgment rumbled through her warming her heart and cooling her head.

“Here goes nothing…”

Clarke breathed deeply and once again imagined herself standing before her mighty Leon, the beast was hunched from the year of isolation amongst isolation, the glint in her eye never faltered though.

Maybe there was some hope for them.

She imagined the chains that clung to the beast’s neck and appendages to disappear. Her inner thoughts dilemma made a big difference, even with the tight confinement that Clarke put on her Leon towered over Clarke. Now that the chains were off Leon would sit to her actual height, it made Clarke feel like an ant staring up at a mountain.

The outside of her snapped back into place, Clarke’s hearing wasn’t as muted, and she could smell a rotting something or other another mile away.

Wells was right, like he often is, she was hurting herself. Clarke felt her mind get dragged down to her inner heart-scape. Leon was still in the same sitting position she was in earlier.

The lioness lowered her head and Clarke automatically replied in kind to their old greetings, but she could feel turmoil and anger in Leon and her beast’s eyes were unforgiving.

Without any indication Leon lunged at her throat and Clarke woke to the moon blinding her face with a cool that she was sure wouldn’t come to her anytime soon.

Looking down she was the bones shifting, they grated past one another, each one after the next more painful. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, looking down she saw her recently injured leg was having more resistance than the rest. Her upper leg was still human along with her knee, but her below all the way to her foot was furry and big.

She wondered if the bending in her leg was from her odd angle and the shadows of the moon, but the echoing snap of her knee cap told her otherwise.

A roar escaped her lungs and ran into the wooden forest.

The same whistle rattled around in her ears, but she almost didn’t hear it. With great effort Clarke attempted a whistle (that put even babies to shame) that was more of a spit than anything else.

“Fucking hell fire and ass shats!”

The pain was driving her mad. Leon couldn’t go back to her inner self, even if she tried she knew all of Leon was focusing on surrounding and overtaking her skin like a fourth layer.

Her dizziness was increasing tenfold, Clarke didn’t know if it was from going mad or from the pain, but at this moment she didn’t think it really mattered anymore.

Wells’ faint encouragements weren’t helping and it some how pissed her off more. Clarke yelled out her frustration and felt more than heard Leon’s own frustration boiling over into her own. The moonlight dimmed, and Clarke felt herself growing and folding only to be twisted again before she found herself higher onto the next ridge.

Clarke began to panic, she didn’t know if she was going mad again or if this was a lot of pent up stress and angst that she and Leon held to tight. She searched everywhere for Wells, but she quickly gave up and let her anger run it’s course, grabbing the trunk of a leaning tree with one arm, the sound of her claws cracking the bark brought a sense of comfort, and flinging it somewhere to her right.

The shattering body of the wood wasn’t enough, her anger was still very much there and when she tried yelling at Leon and into the cold night, but her beast only yelled back before throwing their body against another tree. It was painful but nowhere near the pain of shifting, Clarke also wasn’t going to be outdone.

She hissed at Leon before hurtling herself into a headbutt on a thicker tree that was lower back on the ridge.

Leon bellowed back, the pain of being left and chained in confinement easily passed through to Clarke. It was a mistake and subconscious thought, at least she could draw, Clarke did know that much at least.

Clarke and Leon exchanged biting feelings and pained hits, Clarke would later reminisce that both she and Leon were stupid since they both felt the pain and they should have just had a shouting match; but everything in hindsight is always easier to see than how it is in the moment.

Leon rammed them into the side of the ridge in a horrible belly flop.

Clarke also didn’t know how many blows they did to her body, all she knew was that she was going to be bruised.

They continued like that for some time, neither knew how much time passed, only that the moon was higher in the night.

Clarke stumbled in a drunken line toward the two ears that stuck out over the other ridge, no doubt they belonged to Wells. Where they went on their violent endeavor helped confine her incase she went mad, but damn! If it didn’t feel like hitting solid steel each time she or Leon threw their body to the ground.

Clarke flopped onto the ground, her own round ears mirroring Wells. The boy popped his head over and cocked his head back and forth trying to figure out who won. Clarke stuck her tongue out but even that left her panting in exhaustion.

Clarke slumped onto the rocks and released a tired breath.

Wells drooped his ears one at a time covering his eyes before lifting one ear and then the other again. He wiggled them and repeated flopping his ears causing Clarke to chuckle, though it did sound like gravel grating against metal that echoed in a drum.

Wells bopped her on the nose grinning, when she didn’t try to rip his face off he started wagging his tail and jumping back and forth. Wells leaned down with his wagging tail in the air, he playfully bit her ears before grabbing their clothes and sprinting back towards camp.

Clarke scrambled up with her second wind and started chasing Wells back, their little game of tag was the most fun she’s had in over a year.


	19. Tag II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still deciding if i'm gonna kill Wells or not, if any preference leave a comment.

The two were huffing and puffing half a mile out of the camp,

“Clarke, I have to say we haven’t played tag in awhile and it was fun and very awesome but lose the claws. They were smaller when you were a brat. And duller”

Clarke yanked her shirt on before playfully digging her nails into Wells’ ribs.

“Then you shouldn’t bite my tail”

“But it’s so fluffy!” He whined.

Clarke snorted as they walked back toward camp in a peaceful silence. It was one of the few if not the first time Clarke had a piece of peace, Earth wasn’t how she remembered from her textbooks, but she was still glad she was down here instead of confined in solitary or the Ark in general.

She watched as Wells fell behind her and when he didn’t catch up till they could see the fires of the camp she stopped and waited for him. Wells was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice her until she turned and clotheslined him as he trudged by.

The boy startled and swung out in self-defense, Clarke attempted to growl but she didn’t have any air left in her lungs to do it.

“Clarke, the hell! Oh, you okay?”

Clarke grabbed his shoulder and Wells tried not to flinch as her nails gripped him. She hissed out several breaths before she could speak again.

“Nice punch” she wheezed.

Wells smiled sheepishly and patted her back, unfortunately for Clarke it felt like a battering ram and she ended up face first on dirt. _Again_. It’s funny how people thought Wells was always weak because he was lean, he simply didn’t have fat on his body.

Wells picked her up by her shirt scruff and dusted her off, and Clarke felt like a kit again.

“Sorry, Clarke”

“S’good”

He snorted, “You need a bath” Wells waved a hand in front of his face. Clarke twisted out of his grip,

“I’m not the only one, I’ve simply didn’t notice my BO till now”

Wells shook his head, “You might want to do something, I can smell your beast’s scent, pretty sure the woods will be gassed for days”

Clarke sighed before scooping up dirt and rubbing it on her neck and arm pits, she can reign in more scent from coming out, but she can’t stop the musk that was already let out. She glared at the boy who was snickering behind her.

She grabbed a glob of damp earth and rubbed it into Wells’ head.

“How did you not run or go mad”

Wells shook his head, his hound showing.

“One, I’ve been around you longer than anyone else, your parents included; pretty sure I’m immune to your craziness too. Unfortunately, I still go along with it”

She slapped his arm but felt her grin increase tenfold.

“Hey, you’re just as crazy”

The boy shrugged.

“Have to be since I hang out with you, but Clarke I don’t think your sent causes people to go mad, I think you just push beasts till they’re a bit wild because most people haven’t ever smelled a lion. Scratch that I _know_ people haven’t smelled lion before besides your family. And maybe my father?”

Instinctively Clarke lunged forward and clasped a muddy hand to her friend’s mouth. Looking around Clarke slowly lowered her hand.

“Sorry—oof!”

Wells held her in a bear hug and gently rocked her back and forth. Clarke started complaining but soon found herself with knuckles rubbing into her head, she could feel him smiling.

“Wells! Hey, stoop. Heh. Stooop”

Clarke thrashed harder before she tapped twice. Wells let go, but not without a last-ditch effort to tangle the rats nest that was her hair.

“See what you just did Clarke”

The blonde could feel the confusion run over her face. Clearing his throat Wells took a step closer and slung an arm around her shoulders.

“Fight for flight, Clarke” Wells clarified. “They smell a predator that could rip their head off, so the beasts automatically go into one of the states. So, they catch a whiff of something that could possibly make their days go from bad to hell of a lot worse; you don’t make people go mad, you just put them on edge and they let themselves fall to their beasts”

Wells looked at the pouting blonde, she put Octavia’s pout to shame.

“So, indirectly through the transitive property I still caused people to go mad”

Wells ran a hand through his hair with a half laugh half sigh, “You’re too smart for your own good”

“Thanks mom”

Wells snorted before nudging the girl forward again.

“Pretty sure that’s you Clarke”

The two walked in silence till they reached the gate, Wells leaned up against the make shift fence.

“You still remember the kid and his team who helped us all those years ago, when I accidently broke into a fight club”

Clarke didn’t hesitate, “I will forever hold that against you, I told you not to run off. Aren’t I the one that that did stupid shit on the Ark, you could have died without the boy”

_The boy_ what an original name.

Wells rolled his eyes, “Yes. Curly” Wells sighed, he didn’t want to give her false hope given that she is a different girl now and Bellamy is…definitely not the boy he once was either; but he did know how much curly—Bellamy—meant to Clarke for the short amount of time she knew him. For a short while Bellamy gave them both hope for a friend that didn’t damn them for being more well off, but look where they are now…

He noticed that Clarke grew eerily quiet, she wasn’t swearing, nor did she look like she was going to cry like she did years ago when she was ten. Instead she looked sullen and just exhausted.

She looked lost in thought.

“What about him?”

There was a small whine to her breathy reply. He couldn’t blame Clarke, he’s brought up the subject before on multiple occasions especially when he wanted to know what happened in his time passed out.

“What if he was down here with us?”

Clarke whipped her head to him so fast that Wells was worried that she got whiplash.

“What do you mean, do you know who he is Wells?”

Well damn, yes Clarke I do know him, he’s the one that tried to kill you, you know the asshole whose throat almost got ripped out by you. The same one that almost ripped out your leg. Oh, don’t forget he let Murphy fight me, fairly at least.

Thinking better Wells held her shoulder firmly, hoping she didn’t see his dislike for curly.

“All I’m saying is that there is a chance that he’s down here with us, maybe this is the chance you could be friends or what not” Most likely not.

Wells watched the girl’s face soften for the slightest second before turning to one of her adorable pouts again.

“Knowing my luck, he’s back on the dying Ark, or he’s turned into one of the jackasses of this camp that’s going to get us killed”

Wells laughed but was able to play it off as a cough in his hand, hopefully. Oh, if only Clarke knew how close she was at the truth.

Wells patted her shoulder and quickly turned to go, but not without a final piece of advice.

“Clarke, it’s been years I’m pretty sure both are different, but if you find your guard you might just have a second chance at being friends. I got mine back, don’t see why you can’t gain a few down here”

Clarke smiled back at him and Wells knew he said the right thing, or at least not a wrong thing. He shrugged playfully,

“Or you might both just be stubborn idiots who can’t get along”

He left his best friend as they exchanged single finger salutes, he could still see Clarke’s confused smile.

 

Clarke climbed back up the ladder of the drop ship thinking about Wells words, he could be right but what rubbed her the wrong was how he asked out of the blue. She knew he wanted every detail of her adventure to save him and the temporary crew she obtained, partly because he was out for most of it and he wanted to know, but also because it was a kickass story.

What she didn’t understand was why ask now, again, when there were more pressing matters? Did he find someone that he thought was _the boy_ , or was it their trip down memory lane that caused the question to be brought up again? It just seemed so—random to her.

“Was that a dream or was I speared?”

Clarke’s heart swelled, and she forgot the weirdness of Wells instantly when she heard Jasper’s raspy voice. He made it, he’s not going to die.

Clarke climbed the rest of the way with as much speed as her exhausted body would allow.

“You’ll have an impressive scare to prove it”

What she saw warmed her heart, Finn, Octavia and Monty were all crowding around the once dying boy. It just proved they had hope for survival down here, and in humanity. Clarke grabbed the weakened boy’s hand,

“Thank you for not dying, I don’t think I could have taken that today”

Jasper offered a fevered smile, “I think I’ll try not to die tomorrow either if it’s all the same to you”

She chuckled with the people that were fastly growing into friends.

“Yeah that would be nice”

Monty tackled her onto the bed with a hug and began rubbing his head on her back.

“I though you said you would be quick about dinner…mother”

“Urgh, damn it Monty a couple of things popped up, go snuggle with your brother”

The rest of them looked at her with a slight panic. She held up a hand while the other replaced a cool cloth on Jasper, who passed out once again.

“It’s fine, nothing to do with the danger of the camp. I had a cringy dinner with Bellamy before I went with a walk with Wells”

Octavia perked up at her brother’s name, it was several hours but Clarke didn’t think he would be forgiven easily with the anger she showed earlier, that was until she saw the more than half empty bottle of whisky on the table.

Well at least they weren’t completely smashed, yet.

Monty grabbed her golden locks,

“We love you so much mom, it’s so fluffy”

Or not.

“Oh, how did dinner with my brother go?”

Clarke let Octavia crawl into her lap and curl into her and ran her hand through her hair as Monty hogged her back still. Clarke couldn’t help the small sigh that escaped with her breath,

“Oh, just like anything else, it starts nice then it went to hell, or something along those lines”

That received a snort from the girl who was almost fully in her lap. Octavia hugged it and some how curled even deeper in on herself. Clarke felt Monty drifting off, with the help of Finn Clarke tucked in the boy next to Jasper.

“Guys I’m awake seriously”

Finn patted Monty’s shoulder, “Sure you are man, sure you are”

“He smells”

Clarke snorted while Finn pinched the bridge of his nose,

“We all smell Monty, get some sleep”

Monty shuffled under the covers till his head popped out near Clarke’s thigh,

“No”

Finn tried to push him back in but Monty just popped out somewhere else.

“Damn it Monty, go to sleep, you’re tired and drunk”

“No”

Finn sat on the edge of the bed on Clarke’s other side with a sigh and watched the two girls and Monty who is partly curled up on Octavia now.

Finn laid back on Jasper’s legs for a makeshift pillow.

“So…what you and Wells do, you do look like you took a mud bath”

Clarke glared at the smirking boy but leaned back on her elbows to support the two that were laying on her like lumpy logs.

“Yeah we uh…we talked”

“And?” he prompted.

Monty and Octavia perked up a bit at the drama, Clarke couldn’t help but chuckle some. They might be forced to grow up down here, but they were till kids, and clearly, they still like drama or the possibility of drama.

She absentmindedly stroked her fingers through her knotted hair debating how much to tell.

“Well we went on a five or so mile walk then we talked, discussed how my mother was the one who somehow was the reason that damned my father to a death, made-up, and played tag after a postponed sparring match that turned into a control my inner beast match since I lost control one and a half times within the week”

“WHAT!”

Clarke’s breath shot out of her as Octavia and Monty sprung off of her stomach, second time this night she has lost her breath to some fists. Finn practically slipped off of the bed, with poor Jasper almost being dragged off with the sheets.

Clarke winced as she tried to roll off the bed but was quickly overtaken by newly invigorated Octavia and Monty.

“What do you mean spar?”

Monty jumped on top of Octavia who was practically crushing Clarke’s ribcage.

“What do you mean trying to control your beast? Clarke! Did you and the prince go out and _purposely_ try to shift into that beast that ripped those water monsters apart? No offense to your beast”

Clarke rolled her eyes and attempted to push the two kids off, but they looped their arms around her neck,

“Will you two—Finn! Help”

The boy snorted and only folded his arms to watch the blonde girl struggle out from under the dogpile.

“Fine, fine.” Finn pried off Monty, only to have him cling onto him like a koala. Octavia on the other hand wasn’t budging. Clarke patted to girl on the back,

“Octavia—Octavia get off”

Octavia only shook her head and clung more tightly to Clarke.

“No tell us what happened”

Clarke sighed and flopped down squishing Octavia onto the mattress, and maybe Jasper too. She wasn’t sure who’s groan that was.

“Griff giff oof”

A hand slapped her stomach before yanking at the front of her T-shirt, Clarke curled up and Octavia scrambled out but not without a box to Clarke’s ear.

“Griffin get off! What happened, tell, tell—” Octavia got a better look at Clarke, “or maybe a bath, why are you so muddy?”

Clarke sighed. “Scent, precautionary so that’s why we went so far but close enough to camp in case of an emergency—Octavia no stop”

Octavia splashed a rag in water and scrapped the mud off Clarke’s neck, before the blonde could stop the girl Octavia stuck her nose flesh to Clarke’s neck and took a deep sniff.

The reaction was immediate, Octavia jerked back from Clarke as if she was burned and fell off the bed before scurrying back till she hit the wall.

Clarke surged to her feet to go after the girl, but Octavia only lashed out. Fear filled the dark-haired girl’s eyes and her lips were flared back in a snarl.

“Stay BACK!”

Clarke stopped and slowly backed up till she was as far away as she could be from Octavia.

“O—Octavia just calm down”

“Calm down! Calm—” Octavia stumbled onto her feet in a jittery fashion that reminded Clarke of those videos of new born giraffes.

Finn and Monty stepped toward the startled girl slowly, both hoping not to get caught in the cross fire. Finn gently took on of Octavia’s arms while Monty stood in front of the girl blocking her sight of Clarke.

Monty looked over his shoulder, “Clarke _what_ happened?”

She looked toward the boy who looked just as startled as Octavia, if not more.

“My scent, it’s what I was talking about earlier at the river. What she smelled was at least an hour old, maybe more. Finn Monty I’ve reigned in any new hormones that are wanting to come out, but the ones on my clothes and skin are still there, you two need to keep away from my neck. Octavia—”

Clarke looked back to the girl who was clenching and unclenching her fists.

“ _Calm down_ ”

The girl nodded jerkily.

“How bad does this get?”

Clarke looked toward the horror on Finn’s face and she couldn’t help but feel a small part of herself die on the inside to see how her friends reacted around her. She moved back only felt her head hit against the wall; the jarring pain grounded her but only for a moment. She felt panic start to grip her, her nightmare—one of her nightmares—coming to life.

Will she be killed off or would they want a chase for the fun of a hunt?

She could feel her lungs constrict and her own breathing become erratic, it would only be a matter of time before the other two others catch her scent, she needs to leave. Go north, to the river, she would have a water source and she knew how to survive from Earth class and from her dad—dad…”

She felt her lungs completely swelled shut.

She barely noticed that the hatch door flung open and that a body rushed through. It wasn’t until her head hit the wall again from being shaken by the blur that filled her vision.

“Cllerrk…Clearkk!...Clarke!”

A hand slapped her across the cheek. She shook her head and Wells appeared out of nowhere.

“Clarke? You there?” Clarke watched as he took a step back but still held her shoulders. He slapped her again with a lot less force, it was more of a tap than anything else.

“Clarke what happened?”

He caught something in the air. He took a step closer, ignoring the shouts of the others and took a deep inhale of Clarke.

“Your beast” he suppled breathlessly.

She only nodded at him and grabbed some still moist dirt to rub back on her neck’s scent glands. She couldn’t look at the other three.

Wells saw Clarke keep her head down and hunch into herself, she was still hyperventilating but at least she didn’t look like she was about to pass out. Yet.

He looked at Jasper who was sleeping away the commotion, he turned to the other three, the two boys were supporting Octavia. He saw the wild look in her eyes which confirmed she must have caught her scent.

He moved over to the two and gently removed their white knuckled grip on the girl. He caught the eyes of each and slowly sat them to the floor.

“What happened”

Wells’ question was more of a demand.

Finn looked back to the blonde that slinked down to the floor.

“Uh—um, Octavia caught took a whiff of Clarke”

Wells looked to the girl that was boxed in between him and the other two, she didn’t look like she was going mad, but she didn’t look like she was entirely here either.

“Octavia”

The girl jumped and locked eyes with him before shooting back to Clarke. Monty moved till he sat in front of Clarke trying to block her sight again. He turned to Wells with wide eyes,

“Why did this happen? Clarke wouldn’t talk about it…how did you not, you know, get jumpy when you were near her”

Wells sighed.

“You forget, I’ve know her for years, so I grew up with it”

Monty frowned he looked like he was going to say something, but Octavia practically lunged at him.

“What—why do I feel like I’m being stalked. My beast is going wild, it—is this what it’s like to go mad”

Wells ran a hand through his hair, Clarke once again was getting into trouble only this time the only place to run was out of camp.

Wells shrugged at her, “Maybe, look you guys just need to get used to her scent”

“What if it gets to the camp, those kids are waiting for blood”

Wells glared at Finn. “Yah don’t think. Look, her beast is…rare, so people aren’t used to her”

Octavia sat forward onto her haunches and Wells mirrored the girl in case she started lashing out, he only received a glare from Octavia.

She sat back down, and Wells followed, Wells offered a smile, but the girl only huffed in slight indignation.

“She told us about the constrictors and crocks and sharks”

Wells nodded mutely at the confession. Looks like Clarke did make friends, that’s good; bad news is she might have accidently scared them away. He clapped his hands before looking behind him, Clarke has moved into the corner out of sight some what and was curled up on herself.

A beat of pause, he waited and heard a quiet snore come from the girl. He turned back, the other three were more relaxed and were also looking at the blonde that was curled up.

“Well” his voice startled them from their viewing, “she’s kinda like them”

Octavia leaned back against the wall, she could feel herself relaxing more and more, and now she could feel a sense of guilt. Clarke had warned her, and she didn’t listen. Now, now she didn’t know what to think, Clarke has control she knew; she said it herself that it was stylish musk that clung. It made Octavia wonder what Clarke’s fresh scent would cause in a reaction.

God that would not be good.

Octavia grabbed the bottle of whisky, a took a swig before offering it to Wells.

“Yeah, princess said something like that”

Wells passed the bottle to Monty who graciously accepted the peace offering. He looked to the other girl,

“The only reason why you reacted so badly is because what she is isn’t common, her line is practically extinct. There are no remnants of her lineage left on the Ark besides her mother, and at one time her father”

“You two made up for real then. Her mother really did kill her father”

Wells nodded at Finn.

“Yes, something along those lines; anyway, the only places on that Ark that has a lick of her—their scents is in their home, Clarke’s father fixed their circulation system so that it’s separate from the rest of the Ark, they were their own little bubble”

Monty whistled lowly, “Impressive, how were they not discovered”

Wells shrugged, “Her dad was one hell of a mechanic. Like I said, we did a lot of things that weren’t legal. My father also pulled strings, or used to. That’s one of the only reasons why Clarke wasn’t floated. Some guards claimed she went mad, others though it was just a normal girl mourning her floated father. My father made the call, both to save her and damn her by killing her father. He killed his best friend, I chose to save mine. Even if it meant her hating me for the rest of our lives—well I got lucky in that department but now she knows the truth”

A sorrowful silence filled the area, they all had someone they missed, floated or otherwise. The bonding of the sad never seemed to satisfy the wanting mirth of irony.

Octavia nudged Wells foot when the silence became to much and reminded her of the trapped compartment that was her home.

“So, what’s her beast?”

She was taken aback by the laughter that came from the boy’s mouth.

“What? I’m serious, what is she?”

The boy waved her off, “Sorry, it’s not my place to say, Clarke will tell you if she wants. People have asked her that for years. There were times when we weren’t just followed by people sent from our parents, other parties that loved the Ark’s princess were always trying to find out what she was. She was offered three pounds of weed one time by one of her black-market friends”

Monty gave him a scandalized look, “And she didn’t take it? Three pounds of weed just like that”

Wells took another swig of the whisky, “Three pounds of weed isn’t worth her life or her family”

He saw Monty’s smile turn into a frown instantly, hoping to lighten the already damp mood he offered the whisky to the boy.

“She’s at least worth ten pounds of week and ten ounces of morphine”

Monty gave a thankful nod and took the last swig. Octavia yanked the bottle out of the boy’s hands and cursed under her breath.

“Please tell me there’s more whisky”

Finn shook his head at their shenanigans, “Is it okay for you to share what you are”

Wells narrowed his eyes at the boy who started moving towards Clarke, “No, I’m just a hound”

Finn gave a thoughtful hum and squatted in front of the sleeping blonde, he was going to lean closer in when he felt someone grab the back of his neck and yank him back.

“Hey! Wha—Wells what are you doing”

The other boy glared, “Preventing another incident like with what happened with Octavia, you guys will have to be acclimated, so you don’t get any more shocks”

Finn tried to yank off the hand, but the grip of the Ark’s prince was surprisingly strong, maybe just as much as Bellamy’s.

“You can let go guard dog”

To everyone’s surprise Wells growled at him, but he did release Finn with a little shove.

“I don’t know what it will take but I will do whatever it takes to keep my friend safe”

Finn pushed back at Wells without thinking, “I wasn’t going to do anything”

Wells grabbed his shirt and yanked him close till the two boys were nose to nose, “If you caught a whiff you might have lashed out, that could have hurt her; what would hurt her worse was if she caused another person to go mad and get killed!”

Shit.

The boy quickly let go of Finn and held a hand to his mouth. That wasn’t supposed to happen, he’s already let out a lot of stories that he wasn’t even sure he was supposed to.

He saw the other threes’ eyes widen.

“What do you mean?” They all jumped and looked at the boy that was on the bed who was peering at Clarke.

“Jasper how long were you awake?”

The boy looked to Octavia and then Wells, his face was neutral, but he was sweating. Wells didn’t know if that was from the fever, what he heard about Clarke, or maybe a bit of both.

“Long enough, so what happened?”

All eyes turned to Wells, he swore under his breath. It really was Clarke who should be telling these stories, she knew how much she wanted to share and how much should be kept secret. Wells rubbed the back of his neck, he was once again in the spotlight with all them waiting like hungry dogs for scraps.

“Uh…look you should ask Clarke she can—”

“No Wells”

Everyone looked to the curled up blonde who was rubbing her hands. With her nap disturbed Clarke got up to stand closer to Wells, but stopped before looking at Octavia,

“You okay?”

The girl gave a small ‘yeah’ and looked away, Clarke sighed.

“Wells it’s okay, maybe they’ll understand better”

Wells walked back over and nudged her shoulder with his, he offered a smile which caused her to supply one of her own. Wells nodded and leaned back against the wall.

“So, there were more than a few incidents when Clarke went on our adventures”

He heard the blonde snort next to him, he rolled his eyes and continued.

“One day we were running down the corridors, I think we were in medical—”

“It was mecha station” Clarke interrupted.

“Anyways, we were once again being sent to learn something about some process or subject and out watcher that day was very clingy, this was before we noticed we were being followed and looked after twenty-four-seven, actually maybe this incident was why we were on lock down for the rest of the time on the Ark?”

Wells looked to Clarke who was staring down at the ground, she offered a small nod. He wasn’t surprised, he lost count how many times they almost gave their parents heart attacks or got killed after forty-three.

He must have gotten lost in looking at Clarke, who still refused to remove her eyes from the floor, because Finn cleared his throat and glared at him, the other boy’s own eyes flashed to Clarke before staring back at him. Neither noticed the smile on Monty’s lips or the eye role from Octavia.

Wells cleared his throat. “Well we went to our study session, we were nine years old”

“seven” Wells saw a small twitch at the corner of Clarke’s mouth, it was almost a grin.

“Thank you, so went. All I remember is that it was a fun lesion, something to do with math”

A snort from one of the audience was heard but he ignored it.

“We were finishing up when someone burst in with a gun, they took us hostage like always—”

“Woah, woah, woah” Finn stepped closer to the two, “what do you mean _like always_?”

Wells looked at the boy with a frown, “What do you think ‘like always’ means, Finn? We—” he gestured to himself and the quiet blonde who was observing the others out of the corner of her eye.

“—tend to get caught in the political atmosphere. Plenty of people love us, but the same amount hates us, remember”

He only received a frown from the other boy.

“Can we sit down?”

Everyone turned to Monty.

“What you guys look like you’re gonna get in a fight, plus it’s late”

Everyone humored the boy and laid down.

“Anyways, we were taken hostage by the man, he was probably drunk and had it out for my father for ordering someone to be floated. He shot our teacher point blank, and we were frightened. As I told you, you guys aren’t used to her lineage’s scent, the psych wasn’t any different, he was going to put a bullet through my head in ten minutes if the council didn’t get him his demands”

“Which were?”

He shrugged at Octavia, he didn’t know every detail. The girl huffed and looked at Clarke for an answer, who was finally looking up again without any shame or guilt.

“The death of the Chancellor, which is treason, extra rations which couldn’t be supplied at the time, and a pod so he can go to Mars, Not Earth, but Mars”

Wells snorted. “Crazy fellow he was”

“You two are taking this very well”

Wells looked to Finn with a small smile, “We got used to life threatening situations, plus it’s been years they make for good stories and jokes”

“You two are crazy”

Clarke nodded as Wells shrugged at the assessment, Finn wasn’t wrong. They simply matured through their crazy adventures and miss adventures. They knew a lot of dangers that could be around the corner, it’s also why they are more cautious. They’ve had their fun, now they have to watch out for the others who are having their own right now.

Wells continued, “Well the guy made his demands, each of us would be shot every three hours that he didn’t get his demands. He never got the chance for it though, it’s a no brainer that the guard would be sent out. So, to make this long story short, the crazy man caught a whiff of our friend Clarke here, an in his already heightened state went mad; he essentially made his system go into a hyper aware situation where it’s fight or flight, he was confined in the room with us, he was trapped and was already unstable, her scent just pushed him off the ledge. Like an enzyme, her scent lowered the activation energy of what the man’s beast needed to take control”

Wells looked over to the audience, he once again found Monty furiously writing down the story, this time on Jasper’s make shift bed with some crushed up berries. Octavia looked giddy to being told a story for some reason, or maybe it had to do with their near-death experience; Finn on the other hand looked slightly impressed.

“He shifted and then started to chase us, Clarke has a scar on her hip from the man’s rabbit teeth”

He got hit in the stomach with the back of the blonde’s hand when the other three burst out laughing, “You didn’t need to say he was a rabbit, now I sound more pathetic”

Wells chuckled with them, “You have to admit it does sound funny”

Clarke rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated breath, “He practically castrated you if I didn’t get in the way”

Wells put his arm around her for a side hug, “And I will forever be grateful for that, I don’t think I could live like that”

“Stop being dramatic”

“Says the girl that threw a wrench at the one who went mad”

“Did she now” Octavia was practically splitting her face open with her grin.

Wells nodded, “Yeah, we were being chased around the room, good thing the man wasn’t thinking since all he had to do was pick up the gun and shoot us, I was caught in the corner of the room and the rabbit man—”

“Please don’t call him that Wells” Clarke sighed into her head.

“And Clarke rammed into his face right as he was going to take a bite out of me, for some reason he was going for my nether regions and instead of getting that he got Clarke’s hip. Clarke then stabbed him with a pen in the eye before I dragged her out of the room”

Clarke decided to run and hide behind her hands, the others were trying their best not to smile or cringe, it left them with very interesting facial expressions.

“After that we hid in the air ducts” Wells felt Clarke stiffen next to him, he didn’t like the remaining of the memory either but might as well not sugar coat things when you lice in a place that wants you dead.

“The guards came but—but”

He sighed and let his head fall back against the wall, he felt his shoulder get squeezed and looked to Clarke who mouthed a ‘thank you’. Clarke cleared her throat as she laid her head on Wells’ shoulder,

“When the guards came I didn’t know I was still releasing my beast’s scent, didn’t really know I was the one to cause the incident till much later; but, the guards came they had to kill the man who went mad, but my scent was still in the room and it caused some of the other guards to go mad. They essentially killed their own men, those who went mad but were contain were floated within the next thirty-six hours. After that incident I worked on keeping my scent off as much as possible. Some people have a scent that does that to others, I just happen to be one of them, pretty sure my mother does too”

The ending of the story left the room silent again, Clarke mentally shrugged to herself, they wanted to know. It didn’t stop the bitter taste in her mouth though.

“Oh”

Clarke hummed at Finns response.

“A man of many words”

Finn rubbed the back of his head, “So, no more smelling Clarke”

Octavia snorted and rubbed her nose, “We need to get used to it”

“No”

They looked to the half asleep blonde.

“Come on Clarke it’s the best way”

She tried to shake her head no but in doing so caused Clarke to do a side head but against Wells who crumpled with her at the pain.

“No, I’ll just lock myself up here or find some mud, as long as it’s diluted fast it should be relatively okay”

Finn only shook his head, “That’s going to backfire”

“It’s all we have right now”

Wells got up and ushered her back to her corner and tossed her some sheets. She nodded her thanks.

“We should all go to bed it’s late and both Jasper and mom here need sleep”

“Fuck you Wells”

The boy flicked his middle finger back, eliciting a light chuckle from her.

“Love you too, goodnight”

“g’night”

Wells snorted and left the drop ship, closely followed by Finn, their own beds awaited them near the toasty fire and not in the frozen dropship that smelled like musty socks and blood.

Clarke curled into her blanket and pushed herself closer to the wall, there would be problems if she’s unable to hold her scent, but that’s for another time, they had more pressing matters with the grounders. She couldn’t get distracted, she promised herself to go out with Wells more to retrain her control. Clarke knew she was going to need it.

Leon purred in her mind, she wanted some more room to stretch.


	20. Till Death do We Sing

Wells laid out in his tent, his only saving grace was that it was practically attached to the back of the dropship, he knew many wanted him and Clarke dead, or at the very least locked away. He felt restless his beast even more so. Knowing he wasn’t going to get much sleep he trudged out of his ratty tent and out the wall.

He sat leaning against a tree, watching the Ark didn’t help completely but he did feel himself become drowsy, he had to admit despite the lack of proper toilets and no ac, and probably the more important things like medical supplies, he really liked Earth.

Wells couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled forth, the irony that he and Clarke were being threatened didn’t go pass him unnoticed. It seemed like neither of them would get a break from their lineages, beast or parental it seems. The hatred for their parents seemed to have been shot down with them, he only hoped that it would go away with time. Worse case scenario him and Clarke could try to find a friendly group of grounders willing to take them in.

Wells hit the back of his ahead against the tree, they were so doomed. Clarke was the closes the hundred had to a real doctor, so she had a skill that would benefit, him on the other hand…he could probably pose as her assistant.

He sighed again.

Clarke would never leave the delinquents even if they tried to kill her, she cared to much like her father and was way to stubborn like her mother.

The snap of twigs shot him out of his thoughts, his hound sprang to attention. A small figure walked towards him. His hear broke at seeing the young girl, she didn’t need to be sent down to Earth, not for the first time Wells couldn’t help but curse his father. He was chancellor for fucks sake, he could have prevented this or changed the rules.

“Hi”

He did another once over of the blonde child that was quaking in front of him. He offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but it probably looked like a grimace if he had to guess. He was exhausted after all, he thanked any gods that he and Clarke didn’t spar like his original plan.

The girl had sunken eyes and she looked ready to bolt, Wells didn’t mind cursing out Curly the next time he saw the ass.

“Couldn’t sleep”

The youth shook her head, she wouldn’t make eye contact with him, “Never can, you on watch or something?”

Wells nodded slightly and patted the ground next to him, if he could deal with an angry Clarke he could deal with anyone; he was just a tad bit rusty on comforting kids, each reacted in their own way to being comforted. He almost snorted when the memory of a sick Clarke kept fighting him, so she could go help people in the med bay. It took him a week to get rid of that shiner.

The small blonde was as quiet as a mouse, “I had a nightmare”

Wells hummed hoping to prompt her if it made her feel better. He heard the girl’s breathing deepen, god he hoped she didn’t cry, he would always feel like crying when another person did. His hound whimpered, already wanting to comfort the little pup in front of him.

“I have them every night, but…I think I know how to stop them now—”

Something fluttered to his left alerting him of a potential threat. He zeroed in on the fluttering birds, if there was something in the underbrush he might need to grab the girl and run, especially if it’s a grounder. His hound was at the ready.

“—I’m sorry”

Something plunged into his neck, instincts took over his hand came to his neck only to find a gapping wound and blood pouring through his fingers. He looked to the small girl holding a knife, a bloody knife. His beast howled, his own fear and panic choked his nostrils.

He moved to grab the weapon away but the small blonde slashed again, startling him and taking off his first two digits of his right hand. He tumbled down the small slope.

“No! Clar—” He was coughing up too much blood, he tried crawling up, but it was too much an effort. His sight was dimming he felt a cold pain lace through him. He was going to die.

“I see him, your father, he kills my parents; his face is all I can see in my nightmares, and when I wake I see yours. They never end, the nightmares. The only way to make them end…is to slay my demons. I must”

If Wells could chuckle or curse he would be doing it at his father, the Ark, the damn girl who was to young to be down here without permanent scars. He felt his chest flutter involuntary, his last thoughts being that his father’s sins fell with him on the dropship.

His other one is that he lost his best friend the same day he got her back.


	21. Till Death do We Sing II

She woke with her heart lodged in her throat. She scanned the room for any intruder but came up with nothing. Monty was on the bed with Jasper and Octavia was draped across both of them hogging the covers. And yet, her heart wouldn’t slow down with the peaceful scene. Clarke felt Leon pacing inside her.

“What’s wrong girl?” she whispered.

The pacing only increased more and more, Clarke couldn’t tell what was going on, she felt like she needed to go outside. The thing was she didn’t know why, and Leon wasn’t telling her anything.

She didn’t know what to do, the last time she felt like this was when Wells was bleeding out without her knowing all those years ago, and Leon sensed it before she did.

The frantic purring turned into a low whine.

“Wait…Leon is it Wells?”

Clarke felt the urgent call to go outside. Clarke did the best to calm her breathing, she took off her clothes and let Leon take control.

To her surprise Leon didn’t do anything more than shift her arms and legs, to the elbow and from the knees down respectively. Well at least her pre-shift stage was becoming easier to slide into.

The more her brain woke up, the more she processed that she could barely move, her body was too exhausted for much more.

Leon hissed.

Clarke looked around, she couldn’t pin point what was making her and Leon so agitated, she quickly climbed back into her clothes. She felt her joints pop and hissed at the pain. She was sure she had bruises in places she couldn’t see.

Clarke took a deep breath and froze.

Her heart sped up again, she took a deeper breath and was hit with panic.

It was Wells’ scent, but there was fear and pain laced in it.

“Leon—”

Her beast growled and the urge to run out was to much. Clarke flung open the hatch and flew down the stairs and out the dropship. She jumped over the fire that she nearly ran into, ignoring the guards on watch that were yelling at her and the pain that crawled through her body.

She stopped past the entrance of the camp, looking around and finding nothing wasn’t causing her panic to slow down.

“Wells!”

A yelp cam from some where down to her left. Clarke raced toward the shrubbery that covered her sight. She crouched down as she took a sniff, letting her eyes adjust to the night, yep, she was going in the right direction; Wells’ scent covered everything, and it wasn’t just laced with fear anymore, it was drowning in it.

“Wells!”

Another yelp came from up ahead, branches snapped, and she heard someone run off. Clarke pursued the figure but tripped over something. When she opened her eyes there was a dark finger bleeding out in front of her.

Oh god.

She grabbed the finger and quickly followed the blood trail that led behind her, Wells was laying on the ground, he didn’t make a noise, nor did he have much heat to his body when she searched for a pulse but she couldn’t tell.

“Wells…” Clarke loomed over his body, she noticed two of his fingers were cut off. Her eyes raked across his figure, she got to his neck and felt herself start to bristle.

Someone had gone for his throat.

Blood had stained his shirt and she was sure he was already dead, Clarke quickly ripped her shirt and started pushing pressure on the wound. She checked his pulse again with her other hand, it was there but it was also dying, she put both hands on the wound. She had to act fast.

Leon roared in her ear and Clarke nodded in thanks for the encouragement, she didn’t need to panic right now. She finally understood why doctors aren’t allowed to work on people they know.

Calm down, deep breaths. Pressure is on the wound. Clarke looked around, who ever was here wasn’t coming back, they had the advantage of her distraction, but they didn’t take it. She looked back towards the camps entrance and noticed several people come out with torches.

“Help!” she screamed.

She watched as the delinquents jumped from her cry before rushing at her. To her surprise Bellamy was the first to arrive before the group, he looked at the boy who’s throat she held with her torn shirt and then to her. He looked just as surprised as she was.

“I heard you were causing trouble princess”

He didn’t look smug in the slightest, in fact he looked sick at the sight before him.

Clarke cocked her head behind her, “Someone went running off before I got to them”

He nodded before turning to the boy to his right, once the torch light hit his face Clarke saw that it was Miller.

“Go after who ever did this, track them down but be careful we don’t know if the grounders set a trap”

Miller nodded, he offered a quiet nod to her before running off with most of the group.

Bellamy squatted next to her and put an arm on her shoulder, “Princess he’s—”

“No!” she screamed, or maybe it was a roar, “He still has a pulse, help me get him to the dropship”

Bellamy sighed heavily but none the less nodded, “Okay princes, okay…Monroe help lift him”

The girl nodded she positioned herself at the boy’s legs in a crouch and hooked her arms around his kneecaps, Bellamy sighed there was no break down here. He positioned himself near Wells’ torso to Clarke’s right.

“Whenever your ready princess”

He watched the exhausted girl sigh deeply before slowly moving some of her bloody shirt out of the way. Clarke inspected the tips of the wound, she still couldn’t tell if it the carotid artery was sliced through or just nicked.

She looked to Bellamy, “Get someone to wake Monty and Octavia, tell them Wells’ been hit in the throat, tell them to prep more of the antibacterial, also have someone find some flexible piping and put it in boiling water after a bath in Monty’s moonshine. Also heat a knife”

Clarke watched as Bellamy nodded to the few others that were left guarding the area and watched as they instantly ran off, she caused enough commotion to get the whole watch out, if this was a grounder attack then they were doomed; yet, they didn’t kill her too, that brought up some red flags. If it wasn’t the grounders who was it, and why so close to the camp?

She needed to keep pressure on the wound, but they didn’t have a stretcher, and getting him on the upper levels of the dropship will be a big barrier.

Think damn it. Clarke continued to look around. Something glittered in the moonlight. Perfect.

“Hold this down” For once Bellamy listened without a complaint, he covered her hands and added enough pressure for the wound not to open; Clarke slipped her own hands out letting him take over. She unclasped Wells’ belt and shuffled back around, moving her arms between Bellamy’s and then looping the tail end of the belt under Wells’ neck. She pulled the belt as tight as she could without cutting off circulation completely.

“Move” Without much warning Clarke grabbed Wells under the shoulders and lifted him up, to her slight amusement in the dire circumstances Bellamy yelped while Monroe, who was watching her the entire time, moved with her in ease.

“A little warning princess”

She huffed, “Okay here’s a warning we have three minutes to get him to the drop ship and stop him from bleeding out”

She hurried forward with Bellamy complaining about the lack of cooperation behind her. She could deal with that later.

To her great distaste there were kids coming out of their tents in droves. Finn’s head popped out of his own, he ran to them and helped carry Wells.

“The hell happened this time Clarke?”

She shook her head, “Throat slit, don’t know who, climb so we can push him up, also make way for us”

The boy nodded and pushed the growing crowed back before sprinting to the dropship.

They onlookers thankfully listened to him and didn’t try to impede their progress but being the center of their attention wasn’t wanted either at the moment.

“Go back to sleep” Bellamy shouted. The crowed grumbled at him, but neither he nor Clarke saw what they did instead they rushed Wells up.

She heard shouting and swearing well before reaching the level with Jasper, who was thankfully asleep still.

“What do you mean, throat slit?!” It was Monty’s voice. Clarke could hear Finn’s exasperated sigh, “You know just as much as I do, let’s hurry”

Clarke scampered up the ladder while Monroe and Bellamy held the bleeding boy, she ignored the questions that were thrown at her as she reached for the boy they lifted. She with the help of Finn dragged Wells onto the floor.

“Shit, Clarke, his neck”

She gritted her teeth as they dragged him, “I _know_ Finn”

She lifted her head watching as the horror crawled up Monty’s and Octavia’s faces as Finn compressed the wound.

“My god” Monty grabbed their blankets and put it on the floor for they to lay Wells on. Octavia looked at her and Clarke just gave her a sorrowful shrug of her shoulders.

The girl gave Clarke a quick and hard hug that had her ribs crying in protest, “Tell us what to do Clarke”

Clarke looked to Wells and the supplies that one of the runners was able to get.

“See if you can find a needle, Monty the water weed. Did you get your moonshine?”

He nodded, “Two people ran in here yelling at us with orders, we didn’t know they were from you, but the moonshine is ready”

Clarke nodded, “Okay now—”

“What are _you_ doing here” Octavia hissed.

The two Blake siblings were staring each other down, one with hatred and anger the other with irritation and guilt.

Clarke got in between them, so Octavia was focused only on her. “Not the time, Octavia he’s here to help. Come on” she added quietly.

The girl growled but relented. She caught a small nod from Bellamy, though she didn’t know if it was meant to be a thank you or a hurry up.

Clarke kneeled on the other side of Wells facing Finn.

“Now what Clarke” She locked eyes with Finn, “We let the runners’ prep while we keep him alive as long as possible” she replied.

Finn shook his head but gave he a gentle squeeze on the shoulder before putting his hand back down.

“Princess” Clarke almost snapped but stopped when she saw Bellamy kneeled beside her, a red-hot knife and gauze was in his moonshine dipped hands.

She took it before moving back some. “Get ready to hold him down you two”

He and Finn nodded each pinning the boy down in case he thrashed.

She unbuckled the belt around her dying friend, she took the cup Monty offered and gently poured the moonshine in his neck wound.

Wells lurched forward while Finn and Bellamy kept him from tearing the gash deeper. Clarke took a deep breath, he just might make it.

“Bellamy sit on his chest and hold his arms tight, Finn hold his head and neck as steady as you can”

The two boys moved quickly.

She made sure Finn was holding Wells’ neck was being held correctly and loosened the belt enough, so they didn’t suffocate him. She pushed back the leather to get a better angle, she dipped a hand in the moonshine again and gently opened his neck, blood gushed out, she slid the knife in and the hissing sound filled the quiet bubble that formed in the room. The stench of burning skin soon followed.

Clarke passed the blade to Octavia who passed the antibiotic weed to her, “Octavia reheat that in the fire”

She put the water weed along Wells’ throat before covering it with her bleeding shirt, she retightened the belt and rocked back on her haunches.

“His fingers” Bellamy added almost like an afterthought.

“Working on it”

She took Wells’ right hand and lifted it up vertically letting gravity aid her. His blood spilled down her own fingers staining them even deeper, Clarke hit her leg in frustration and felt a squish in her pocket.

She fished in and pulled out one of Wells’ fingers, she heard several people gag, Finn practically ripped his hands off the neck wound he was supporting in surprised horror.

“Why do you have that in your pocket Clarke?”

She shook her head, “I guess I accidently put it in there before trying to close his neck.

Finn focused on her instead of the finger she was inspecting, “So, what you’re trying to find a way for him to keep it?”

She stood up to see Wells’ hand and fingers, it was a clean cut, but there was already risk of infection. If she had stronger antibiotics it might work, but she didn’t have that, there was also the chance of gangrene setting in; that would only lead to him losing his finger or the whole hand…damn it.

Clarke tossed the finger on the makeshift table causing multiple people to scatter with a few curses and yelps

She took the red-hot knife from Octavia, she turned to Bellamy “Can you pour some shine on his hand?”

Bellamy quietly complied and cleaned the two bleeding spots that were once his fingers. He patted the wound with a clean clothe that someone held in front of his face before giving Wells’ hand to Clarke.

She sat down again and locked his arms with one leg while the other pressed down on his chest in front of Bellamy before pressing the hot blade on each cut. To their surprise and Clarke’s relief the boy even when he was at death’s door jerked again from the pain.

Bellamy’s sister moved in silence as Clarke wrapped her friend’s hand, Bellamy was glad the camp had someone like the princess in their midst, he didn’t know how many times he was going to think that, but he had a feeling she was going to be coming in use a lot more than she should need to be.

“Clarke” They looked to Finn, “He’s stopped breathing”

She placed her hands on Wells’ neck, it was gone.


	22. Till Death do We Sing III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my two week notice, i can't guarantee a normalish release schedule of chapters because I am going to start another semester of college.
> 
> Will try though. As always no promises.

Clarke felt her own heart stop, she started chest compressions and looked around the room. Everyone was bone tired and scared, lost, it’s amazing how life can fuck you over so fast. To bad she didn’t want rough right now.

“Did you guys get the flexible piping?”

A boy she didn’t know came forward, he held a soaking cloth in his arms, inside were various lengths of piping and tubing.

She felt one of Wells’ ribs give under her,

“Someone, switch with me”

Monty kneeled beside her, Clarke guided his hands and helped set the place for him before going to the half-soaked boy. She shuffled through the various components; small metal, plastic but rippled, big and striated.

“Is there something like an IV tube”

The boy shook his head, “This was all that was scavenged from the dropship”

“What about the first air kits?”

Clarke looked around the room, no none moved. “We have first aid kits, right? They were here before our little adventure to mount weather, where are they?”

She was growling by the end, she was to tired and hurting too much to deal with any more bullshit.

The nameless boy flung his hands up from her with his hands up dropping his bundle, “I-I-I don’t know, there were some boxes that had morphine and other medicines, some of the kids were mixing the different drugs to get high”

Clarke snarled. “They did what!”

The boy jumped back, “It wasn’t me, promise”

Bellamy came between the raging blonde and panicking boy, “Princess, we’ll find you a kit”

“Hurry, we need an AED and definitely a syringe or small tubing that can pass blood…did you know about the med kits?”

She turned to the older male who was deep in thought. Bellamy placed a hand on her shoulder and gently moved her away from the trembling boy who looked like he was going to have a panic attack,

“No, I didn’t”

She could hear the irritation and anger starting to lace with him voice. Some people weren’t going to live long after tonight.

“Clarke!”

The two turned as Miller pushed past the frightened boy, he tossed a box at each of them, “This what you’re looking for? Bellamy, we didn’t find who got Wells”

Bellamy started to prep the AED while Clarke flipped her box over, a big red cross glared back at her. She quickly tore the open the container and yanked out the empty syringe.

“Moonshine” She turned to Miller who was panting. “You’re a life saver Miller”

He gave her air guns with a sloppy salute and handed her the shine before patting Monty on the back and replacing his compressions.

“Heard you all the way outside, kids were racing around when I got here. Found the AED on the way up”

Clarke poured the shine over her arm. She grabbed a strip of clothe and tied it around her arm, she flicked the inside of her elbow. Her blue vein smiled back.

She lifted the syringe.

“Whoa, Whoa, WHOA!”

She ignored the yelling that filled the room.

“Princess! What are you doing?!”

Bellamy grabbed her wrist before she could break her skin. She growled, “He needs blood, now. Shock him”

Bellamy sighed but relented, he ripped Wells’ shirt, placed the patches and waited till Monty pulled Miller back.

“Clear” he yelled as he watched Clarke drew her own blood.

They watched Wells body jump like the damned. Clarke took his pulse.

Nothing.

“Again”

“Princess—”

“Bellamy!—” she started to growl but it fell into a whispered whimper. “Bellamy—just…please, again”

The boy pursed his lips, he ran a hand through his hair and before pulling Clarke away from the body.

“Clear” He pressed the button again.

The body jumped again.

Clarke lunged forward for a pulse…nothing.

Then: Ba—bum. Ba—bum.

She let out a long sigh of relief and pushed in the syringe, her blood ran away into her best friend. He might not be out of the woods, but with his heart back he has a fighting chance. If he survives the night.

She rubbed her arm’s small scab before plunging the needle into the moonshine then back in her arm.

“Clarke, what are you doing?”

She sighed as she drew out more blood. Wells took a fall for her, now she’ll take one for him. She turned to Finn,

“Drawing blood”

Finn slumped back with a sigh, “I can see that, but why how much are you going to give”

“Till it’s enough”

He sighed again, “You mean till you’re all dried up”

She hummed in the back of her throat, there was no use denying it, she would do anything for Wells, especially now that she knew and accepted the truth; if only she wasn’t so blind and so mistrusting then she would have seen through his rouse of taking the blame for her father’s death. She should have seen through it.

Octavia sat down with her back to hers, “Will he make it?’

Clarke leaned back into the girl, “Honestly? I don’t know, we’ve done what we can. It’s up to time and fate”

She felt Octavia nod against her shoulder blades, “Two very fickle characters those two are”

Clarke let out another snort and pulled out the needle to refill her friend with blood.

“Thank you for the help, you can leave when you all wish”

It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, but she knew that it was well into the early hours of the morning. God she was exhausted. She could feel her eyes drooping. Clarke heard vague sounds of “goodnight” and Bellamy yawning out orders, maybe it was for tomorrow. Or today would be a better description for it.

She continued to transfer her blood.

Clarke shook her head as another bout of sleep yearned to close her eyes, it barely helped. She looked at the remaining occupants left in the ‘healing’ quarters. Jasper was snoring lightly, somehow through all the yelling, but a spear to the chest will do that to a person; Octavia’s breathing was light against her back, so the girl was either resting or in a light slumber.

She almost cooed when Miller picked up Monty who was drooling on him and tucked her friend into Jasper’s bed; Miller left with a lazy salute and a small content smile.

He was one of her and Wells last friends to leave, more so out of going down the path of guard duty more than hatred to them, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less to see him but him ignore you as if you didn’t exist at all.

Maybe the three of them could become friends again down here. If they survived that is.

She rested her wrist on Wells’ head, it was burning, and he looked clammy. She wasn’t sure he would make it through the night.

She pushed in the needle and squirted her blood into her friend again before dowsing the metal in the moon shine, completing the rotation and then starting over. She’d lost count how many times she has done this tonight—today?—whatever.

Clarke felt more of Octavia’s weight press against her back and she knew the girl was finally asleep. She pushed another round of blood into Wells before depositing the needle in the moonshine can, it will have to be dumped later but she can hold off on that for now.

Clarke twisted and gently moved the girl into her arms before getting on her knees. She lifted up from one knee to a foot, then the other, carrying her package bridal style. She stumbled lightly but held her ground, she slowly shuffled toward the pile that was Jasper and Monty.

“Hey—”

Clarke jumped startled at the booming whisper before almost falling when two arms came from under her own that were supporting Octavia. The girl in her arms snorted in her sleep but she didn’t seem to wake.

“Sorry” whispered Bellamy.

He was still here apparently. Clarke blinked slowly, unsure if the boy in front of her actually apologized, to _her_. She felt the heat radiation off the two siblings and she felt like curling up for a yearlong nap. Leon purred in agreement.

She felt one of his hands grip her tighter.

“Princess…princess, you look dead on your feet. I’d also prefer if you didn’t drop my sister”

She growled lightly in her throat, there was no bite from her or his. Exhaustion has a way of making friends.

“Then don’t startle a person”

The boy huffed at her, “I’ve been calling you”

“No, you haven’t” She started readjusted the weight in her arms, Octavia whined slightly at the jostling and curled deeper into her chest, but Octavia didn’t wake. They were all out like lights.

She saw Bellamy frown, but it morphed into a smile, somewhat.

“Let’s get you two to bed”

Bellamy followed her all the way to the bed and pulled back the covers for her to deposit his sister in. As Clarke laid down the girl, her arms were caught by Octavia, she hummed softly to the girl who seemed to relax more. Clarke slowly unhooked the girl’s hands and placed them around a bunched-up part of the blankets, Octavia latched on instantly and curled deeper into herself.

Clarke stepped back with a pained wince, she wished she could have some morphine or pain meds, but they needed that for major injuries.

She watched Bellamy tuck some hair behind Octavia’s ear before giving her a goodnight kiss, for some reason Clarke felt something akin to envy mixed with sorrow, she missed when her parents would tuck her in to sleep. Missed being close to those she loves.

A spark of anger burned through her, that was gone because of her mother, and yet Clarke still wanted to see her, cry to her, hug her so bad.

She shuffled back towards Wells, Clarke was half way there when one of her legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor. At least she was able to catch herself partway on the edge of a seat.

“Princess”

Clarke felt two hands, one sliding around her waist, the other slinging her left arm around Bellamy’s shoulders.

“I’m fine, just—just set me down near Wells” she panted, her head was spinning and if she had more to eat she was sure it wouldn’t be in her stomach anymore.

Great now he was going to make fun of her again, how prestigious snobs like her can’t endure anything.

To her great relief, and confusion, the older male did what he was told. He kneeled down and set her down with her back to the wall, she reached for the needle but he nudged her hand away.

“Hey!” she cried. “He needs—”

“Blood I know princess, you’ve said it before; but we need our doctor more. I’m not letting you bleed yourself dry to a—”

Clarke grabbed his hand, nails digging in. “If you say lost cause, I sear Bellamy I will—”

To her surprise the boy just rubbed her hand under his own till her exhaustion left her limp against the wall, her hand hardly hanging on to him.

He was frowning in irritation at her, “I was going to say bleeding yourself dry to a fast grave”

She stuck her tongue out, “Could have fooled me”

He sighed, “Let’s fight in the morning…I counted sixty of those transfusion princesses, that needle holds thirty millimeters. You practically tossed two liters of you blood away in a very short amount of time, you don’t need to give any more”

She reached with her unoccupied hand to test Wells’ pulse. It was weak, but it was also constant. His heat wasn’t going down though.

Clarke sighed heavily.

“Get some rest princess and for the love of god stop causing problems”

She flicked some moonshine at him, “I’m not at fault here”

Bellamy huffed out a disgruntled laugh, “And yet you still somehow get yourself mixed into all the problems around here”

She shrugged lazily, “At least you’ll know where to find me”

Bellamy slunk down next to her, his joints popping, god she wished she could do that, but it hurt just to breathe.

The older Blake must have sensed something off because he dragged the first aid kit over and started rummaging through it. He held out a package of small pills, pain pills.

“It’s not morphine, I’ll kill those bastards later for taking the kits, but it’s something.

She shook her head, they needed to save those.

“Princess”

She shook her head harder till her world spun again and hissed at the pain it caused. Only verbal rebellion, okay stupid body.

“For fucks sake” he whispered, the frustration in his voice as clear as day. He grabbed her arm wrist to put the pills in, but even that slightest movement brought a hiss from her.

“Hey” he gently moved her arm more, but her hiss became a slight cry in the night.

“Jesus, Clarke what did you do?” Bellamy laid her left arm under his right, supporting the light weight that was her useless appendage.

She looked to the arm Bellamy was examining, it was bruised bad, she didn’t know if it was from Leon or herself, probably both; there were lacerations that scampered across her arms and probably under her shirt, all she knew was that it hurt and she wanted to cry, from the pain, for Wells, for all the kids sent down here to die. To be damned.

“I punched a tree” Technically it wasn’t a lie.

“And did this tree hit back?” his exasperation was more and more breathy as sleep waned his conscious.

“Naw, that was the rocks”

He gave her a confused frown, a lifted eyebrow, and a slight twitch at the corner of his lips that may have been a small grin. He popped out one of the pills and placed it in her hand.

“Take it”

“No”

“Stop being stubborn princess, you need it” he grumbled.

She shook her head, “It’s to be used in emergencies”

“I think a light-headed, exhausted doctor, only doctor mind you in this camp, should take the damn medicine”

He handed her one of the cups up on the table, him and his long arms, damn him. She wished she had those for smacking the delinquents that messed up the med kits.

Clarke moved her head away in her childish refusal, she heard him swearing about big babies before forcing the cup in her hands along with the pill.

“You shouldn’t take medicine and alcohol at the same time”

Bellamy threw his arms up in the air, why does he even try. The princess was too stubborn for her own good. He sighed, getting up he dumped the cup in with the bloody moonshine by her side before dipping it in one of the untouched water containers. At least the camp did one thing right, it has water, though it could be argued that they were going to waste away anyway.

When he looked back to the blonde he saw that she was nodding off only to wake up and shake herself, she then checks on the prince before nodding off again, thus starting the cycle again with an occasional cry of pain here or there.

He sighed for the hundredth time this night and walked back. The princess was practically doubled over in exhaustion, he nudged her with his toe and she jolted up as if she was rearing for a fight. She took a step before stumbling backwards, her dark sunken eyes looked frenzied.

Just what has the princess been doing to make her look like that? She was a spitfire at dinner.

Bellamy felt a twinge of guilt at pressing her earlier, she’s pulled her weight more so than most, though he’d never say it out loud. To much time spent being spit on by the more well off didn’t leave a good taste in his mouth.

He opened her clenched hands, he was lucky she didn’t take a swing, one still held the pill while he placed the water in the other. He gently guided her back toward the ground which ended up more as a slumping down with her, a good portion of the water spilled onto her.

He followed close after, the water container nestled in the crook of his other arm, he looked toward the bed where his sister lay sleeping.

“Drink it”

He heard the blonde sigh, but out of his peripherals he saw her lift the cup to her lips. A small win but a win none the less with the princess.

“You should sleep too” This time he looked at her, but she was gazing down at Wells. Maybe the kid did have a chance with the blonde if he makes it through this.

“Can’t. Have to watch him” her voice was so quiet it was nonexistent.

“Princess it’s like you said, time is the only thing that will determine his outcome”

She groaned as she shifted to move a cloth over the sick boy’s forehead and around the uninjured side of his neck.

“Maybe, but I found out that my best friend took the fall of killing my father, despite it being my mother who’s at fault. I just got my best friend back, I’m not going to lose him again even if it means I’m bone weary and bleeding”

He was surprised they resolved their conflict, he also had to commend her for her loyalty, but he damned her for her stubbornness.

“There isn’t much you can do for him now”

She held up the thirty-millimeter syringe, “I can drink more fluids and then give him more blood”

Of fucking course, she would do that.

“We both know that it takes longer for blood to regenerate princess”

She snorted slightly before yawning, “At least you didn’t call me mom”

Bellamy grinned at her, “You never know” he took a deep breath. “Seriously though, he’s not going anywhere”

She shook her head, “Doesn’t matter someone needs to watch the injured” She took the water that was in the crook of his arm and settled it between them, she dipped her cup in and drank it greedily.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Wells, Jasper, another delinquent, you; if I’m the only one who will watch, then I will”

He settled his head back with a light thud. Of course, _you_ would bleeding hearted princess.

“I would”

Bellamy’s eyes popped open, he wasn’t supposed to say that out loud.

“Sleep exhaustion does that to a person”

Damn. He rubbed his face in his hands before getting the other pain pill. She started to protest but thought against it, it would help throughout the nigh when she needed to watch Wells.

Clarke plucked the pill and downed it with water. Bellamy sighed but only moved to get more comfortable. Looks like he was going to stay with her little friend group tonight.

They sat in silence for some time, both trying not to doze off. Bellamy was able to distract himself by playing with her furry clawed arm, she had soft fur and pads. He wasn’t surprised there, but he had a better idea that her line of work required firm but gently hands, it was fun to poke the pads though and see them pop back out as if filled with sand. He honestly felt like a kid doing it but…he blamed it on the sleep deprivation, the princess didn’t seem to mind it either; despite the slow movements he made, the princess still let out hisses or groans from time to time.

Clarke on the other hand had to recount all the different ways to clean different wounds and focus on Bellamy messing with her arm to stay awake.

It was another hour of silence before she heard a small snore, Clarke turned her head to find a sleeping Bellamy. He looked a lot happier than when he was awake, that was for sure. She wondered if Bellamy knew the boy who was her guard all those years ago, Octavia said they were around the same age, maybe the elder black knows the _boy_ or something of the like.

She sighed at her wishful thinking and checked on Wells. Still warm but not burning, his pulse has slowed, and he was shivering. She pulled his blanket higher to his chin and tucked him in like a burrito.

It was going to be a long night. Both for Wells and for her thoughts that wouldn’t be kept away in the silence.


	23. Singing in the Rain

Bellamy woke to a cursing princess that put even Murphy to shame. He was impressed to say the least.

It took him a few seconds to notice that he was slouched over her, forcing her to slump over to keep both balanced. He took in a sharp breath and stilled, he wasn’t sure why, but it felt like a natural reaction.

He looked around the room, Jasper was still in bed, but Octavia and Monty looked to be long gone.

Clarke shifted under him, he glanced down at her. She was shifting berries around on a sheet of metal. Her breakfast it seemed.

“You’re up”

He flung himself off her, she groaned as her back popped in relief. A pained one followed shortly after.

“Your breakfast is on the table, curtesy of mommy Monty”

He snorted, “Aren’t you the mom of this—wait…where’s your prince? Where’s Wells?”

Clarke flinched at the rising panic in his voice, she didn’t look like she’d slept at all last night. Bellamy watched her run a dirt stained hand through her golden locks.

Wait. Fresh dirt. Her hands were clean when she doctored Wells.

“Clarke why are you covered in dirt?”

She stayed quiet for a long time before sighing deep, she turned to him slow and painfully. “There was some trouble in the night, we need to talk…about a lot”

 

“They got Wells outside the walls”

Finn stood behind her, she had dug the hole for three hours strait before she sat down back in the dropship for breakfast. Well before she was crushed by Bellamy.

She shook her head at the funny memory,

“Says the guy who spent another night outside exploring, alone”

“Here” he said.

Clarke caught the unidentified flying object, it was a colored pencil.

“Where’d you get this, these are practically extinct!”

Finn smiled boyishly at her, she smiled back, touched at his kindness.

“The art store”

She stopped at her memories, “Wells he…used to get his hands on anything that I could draw with; he used to trade his own stuff for them too, he didn’t want me to know, just like he didn’t want me to know that my mother was the reason for my father’s death. I wish—”

Clarke flexed the tension from her white knuckled grip. Leon growled with her.

“My mother killed the love of her life, her soulmate, and she damned him to the vacuum of space. I wish I could tell her that I knew what she did, that _I_ know, make her feel how I—”

That’s it! She needed Monty.

“Clarke where are you going” Clarke could hear Finn running after her.

“To make my mother feel it”

 

It felt like ten life times by the time her wrist band was broken off, like a weight lifted not just from her wrist but from her shoulders too. Maybe her soul.

She looked toward Finn, his face was unreadable to her.

“What, we need a wristband that works if were ever going to let the Ark know we’re here”

He scoffed, his disappointed look was starting to grate on her nerves.

“And punishing your mother was just an added bonus wasn’t it”

She shrugged, it felt good to get back at her mother, besides her mother would know she’s still alive when they get into contact with the Ark.

“Look, the Ark is running out of Oxygen, we _need_ the help, besides she won’t know I’m dead forever”

Monty hollered over his shoulder, “Not if I can’t get through the mainframe, it’ll take time”

Finn threw his hands up into the air, “Fine, what’s the worst that could happen?”

 

Turns out a lot could happen, _again_. Clarke was half way through her mid-day nap when Bellamy dragged her to a random tent. She didn’t know what was going on, and frankly she and Leon both just wanted to rip out anyone’s throats who disturbed their sleep.

Turns out that big hairy half shifted Bellamy was hard to kill when she felt like the dead. Good to know.

At least she didn’t go without a fight, he had to drag her dead weight after breaking her clawed hold on the dropship floor, there’s claw marks to prove it. Bellamy eventually gave up when he dropped her dragging body, but then he tossed her like a ragdoll over his shoulder and loped off to the isolated tent.

It was then her day, sorry her _continued_ day, went downhill, again. Off a cliff and into a pool of battery acid in Tartarus.

Bellamy deposited her in the tent, to her surprise Octavia and Jasper were there. It was then she saw their concerned expressions that stared at the makeshift table.

Wells’ other missing finger and some weird knife laid across it.

Clarke picked up the crudely made knife, “This was made from dropship material”

“What do you mean Clarke, that—”

Clarke stopped Octavia, “Who else knows of your…discovery”

The girl shook her head, “No one, we brought it directly here, we didn’t know what to do with it so we had Bellamy drag you out”

Clarke sighed as she examined the knife more closely. She furrowed her eyebrows in concentrations.

“Clarke?” Bellamy was looking at her his ears perked up at attention.

She shook her head, “It’s like we talked about, grounders didn’t kill him, if it were then I’d be dead too”

“So, there’s a murderer in this camp?” Octavia stated.

Bellamy’s ears flattened back, “There is already more than one murderer in our camp, it isn’t new. This needs to be kept on the down low”

He stopped Clarke from going out the tent, she pushed him back.

“Out of the way Blake, last time something needed to kept on the down low it cost the Ark it’s future and they don’t even _know_ ”

Bellamy used his bigger body to keep her from moving, “Be smart Clarke, look how far the camp has come. The wall and the patrols, it’s important that the camp thinks it was the grounders that did that to wells, it’s good for us”

Clarke snapped, Leon was there by her side in an instant, she ripped off her clothes and felt her bones snapping and becoming denser. She had to go on all fours just to not rip the tent apart, as. She practically curled around the rest of the group. If only she had control of her full form…

“Good for you, you mean. Control through fear is that how this is gonna go.” She snarled at the half-shifted wolf in front of her. Bellamy snarled back at her.

“Yeah, if it means getting the wall built to protect us. What you going to do Clarke ask the killer to step forward? You don’t know who’s knife that is”

Clarke growled again, slamming the knife into the table, the initials clear as day.

“JM—John Murphy. The people have the right to know”

She effortlessly slipped out the tent, grabbing the knife as she left.

Octavia glared at her brother.

“What? I’m right”

“Not completely Bell, not completely. Just as Clarke isn’t completely wrong”

Bellamy threw his hands up in the air, “She’s also not completely right then! What do you suggest I do then, hmm?”

The girl huffed and stormed out, leaving the two boys to awkwardly stare after the girls. Jasper twiddled with his thumbs.

“We should probably try damage control, Octavia and Clarke, they can well…” The younger boy chuckled nervously.

“Can raise hell and then some” Offered Bellamy.

The jittery boy nodded before scurrying after his sister, Bellamy cursed under his breath and followed the boy out.

 

“You Son of a BITCH!” Clarke pushed down Murphy, she hardly recognized that he was in another confrontation. The boy tried to lung up off the ground, but she stomped down his chest with her foot. Leon pulled back on Clarke’s muscle, they wouldn’t get any information, or in Leon’s case fun, if the boy died.

“Recognize this!” She snarled.

Clarke glared around her when she could barely hear anything the boy was saying; the camp was screaming their fucking heads off.

“QUIET!” She roared. And they did, the whole camp sat with baited breath, unsure of who the half shift before them was.

Clarke glared down at the boy who was struggling to breath, in her anger she seemed to have put more weight on him again. She took her foot off completely and watched as the boy curled over coughing. He was muttering under his breath.

“What?” she leaned closer to the mumbling boy, only to receive a kick in the muzzle from the boy on the floor.

“Who the hell are you!”

“Clarke!”

Clarke whipped her head around to Monty who was carrying a canister, moonshine no doubt, from the dropship. He wasn’t the only one that looked startled; the crowd closed in closer around them, there murmuring grew louder with each passing second.

Clarke ignored them and held up the knife used to sever Wells’ fingers.

“Answer the question Murphy”

Octavia along with her brother and Jasper broke through the thickening crowd; they saw Clarke looming over Murphy, yet even with the rage being given off she looked calm.

It was unnerving.

They watched Murphy deciding whether to pick a fight or not, they watched Murphy size up the girl in front of him. He could shift but she had the upper hand. He got up and dusted himself up.

“That’s my knife, where’d you find it?” He reached but the girl held it high overhead. He could hear his metal knife screeching in protest against her grip, Murphy could have sworn he saw it bend some too.

“Where you left it after you bled out Wells”

Murphy stared at the girl—monster—thing in front of him.

“The grounders killed him, not me”

The Ark princess snarled back at him, “I know what you did, and you _will_ pay for it”

Murphy gave her a bored look before turning his gaze past her to Bellamy.

“You gonna believe this crap?” But the older boy only looked at him in quiet contemplation, Murphy swore under his breath, was Bellamy was just going to let the princess do what she wants.

The beast in front of him took a step closer, “You threatened to kill him, we all heard it. You _hated_ him. You hated Wells when he’s done nothing to you!”

“Everyone hated him, sorry princess, but his father is the one who locked us up. The one that killed your father”

The beastly girl in front of him took a step back at the mention of her father. He smirked,

“Don’t look so surprised, princess” he hissed, “Everyone heard the story of the Chancellor’s best best-friend being floated”

Clarke snarled at him, Murphy had to admit she was pretty terrifying.

“Off topic Murphy” She let out a low metal scratching breath. “You are the only one who got in an actual knife fight with him”

Murphy shrugged, “Didn’t kill him then either, wish I did though”

Clarke grabbed him and slammed him back on the ground with her dagger-clawed hand.

“You—”

Octavia raised her voice, breaking Clarke’s concentration.

“Tried to kill Jasper too”

“What?”

No one payed any attention to the concerned Jasper.

“Enough of this ridiculousness” Murphy yelled, “I don’t have to listen to anyone of you, or answer to any of you—”

“Come again”

Murphy caught Bellamy’s eye. Fuck, it’s like he dissed Bellamy’s sister all over again. He held his hands up,

“Bellamy, I didn’t do this”

But Bellamy didn’t try calming down the blonde monster that was pinning him down.

“Your knife was found with Wells’ fingers; the evidence is damning”

Clarke got off of Murphy to address the crowd, “Is this what you want? You guys say you want no rules, to do what ever the hell you want. So, does that mean we get to kill each other without punishment?”

Murphy got up again, this time without bothering to dust himself off, “I told you, I haven’t killed anyone”

“Let’s float him”

Clarke and Murphy locked eyes for a second, both shared a look of horror. Clarke rose higher onto her feet. She needed to deescalate the situation before Murphy was killed too.

“That’s not what I meant!” Leon purred in amusement, Clarke had the majority of the morals.

The delinquents weren’t having it.

“Why not? He deserves it with how he was treating us. It’s justice”

Clarke had to roar louder over the chanting group, “Revenge isn’t justice”

“It is!”

Murphy tried moved past her, but the other delinquents poured around her and kicked the boy to the ground.

Was this what the Ark was afraid of if her father told the truth? The mindless masses, it could be a saving grace or a damning wave.

Clarke pulled off several delinquents, some in full shifts others were in half shifts, even some humans.

“Stop! Get off him—stop it! Hey, don’t step on me!”

The rioting mass gaged Murphy and started wrapping him in a noose. Clarke watched as the wire was thrown over a tree, a box was put under the branch.

Oh no.

Clarke whipped her head around finding the wolf she needed, “You can stop them, they’ll listen to you” she yelled at Bellamy.

The delinquent who proposed floating Murphy stepped forward, “Bellamy, you should be the one to put him in his place”

The crowd picked up his name till the whole area was ringing with his name. Clarke watched him contemplating what to do, grabbing his hand she pulled in back a step.

There muzzles were practically touching, she looked into his eyes, they held fear and rage and guilt and so much more.

Clarke pressed closer till her head was plastered to his, ear to mouth. “You were with me in the woods, with Atom. You are _not_ a killer! Don’t do this! No! No, Bellamy!”

He ripped himself from her grasp and ignored her protests.

“Don’t do this Bellamy!—”

He kicked the box out from under Murphy, gravity took care of the rest; but who ever did the knot didn’t know how to make a proper noose, or maybe they purposefully made it wrong, so the boy would be left hanging and choking.

“How could you!” Clarke roared.

The older, smaller, yet just as mighty wolf reared back on her, “This is on you _princess,_ you should have kept your damn mouth shut!”

Finn jumped to her side in an instant, “The hell is going on?! Cut him down! Charlotte get out of here, hey move out of my way!”

Finn pushed to her side but was stopped by a delinquent with a big ass screw, it wasn’t a knife, but it would still kill someone.

Thousands of things were going on at once as chaos reigned supreme. Finn was trying to get down Murphy, Clarke herself was trying to not break any feet or crush anyone while also trying to get to the hanging boy. The delinquents were yelling for blood and tearing down parts of the camp.

“Stop!”

Everyone turned to one of the youngest if not the youngest member of the camp: Charlotte.

“Murphy wasn’t the one who kill Wells. I was me!”

Clarke swore before ripping the makeshift axe from Bellamy’s waste, the loud thwak of her swing echoed and Murphy fell to the leafy floor. Finn raced over and untied biting rope.

The rest of the kids shuffled around and mingled, unsure of what to do.

Clarke checked on Murphy in his frightened state before he could refocus and lash out at her. Or anyone for that matter. He’d live though, he’ll also want blood. Clarke had no doubt.

She looked back to Bellamy, but he just stood as kids pushed past him. He looked lost, defeated, and pained. It wasn’t till she followed his sight till she understood why. He was looking at Charlotte.


	24. Singing in the Rain II

Clarke simmered in the tent as she listened to the crowd that hasn’t completely dispersed yet.

“Bring out the bitch, Blake. Doesn’t Wells need his justice!”

Clarke glared from where Murphy was screaming, it’s a good thing glares don’t actually drop people dead or else Murphy and the tent would be six feet under.

This couldn’t possibly get any worse unless Murphy stormed their tent, but who knew there were still some hours left in the day for it to go to hell.

She looked around at the people stuck in the tent with her, it was less crowded now that she and Bellamy shifted down. The tension on the other hand has only increased though.

“Why, Charlotte?”

Clarke’s heart went out to Bellamy, he looked devastated. His pleading voice said so much more than his broken look.

Well Clarke’s heart went out till she heard the next words from the girl.

“I was slaying my demons, like you told me”

She instantly saw red again, of course Bellamy would have something to do with this.

“What the HELL is she talking about!” she growled, her teeth gnashing with loosely controlled anger.

Bellamy whipped his head to her, for once looking unsure of what to do. Her heart almost betrayed herself again at the vulnerability in the boy in front of her.

Bellamy took a step closer towards her, pleading with his eyes.

“Clarke, she misunderstood”

Bellamy’s placating did little to dissolve the frustration that she could feel flowing through her veins, it was only a matter of time before she snapped. Clarke knew Wells was right, that she needed to practice. Oh, Wells…what do I do? She thought.

Bellamy moved back towards the panicking girl between him, her, and Finn.

“Charlotte that’s not what I meant by those words, it was metaphorical”

Murphy started yelling again, the flimsy tent doing nothing to block the boy’s anger or noise.

“Bring out the murdering little girl, right now Bellamy!”

Bellamy turned to them, his desperation shut down his cockiness leaving vulnerability as the sole expression on his face.

“If you two have any of your bright ideas now’s the time”

Neither Clarke nor Finn said anything.

“Really” Bellamy scoffed with his hands in the air, “Now you stay quiet?”

She and Finn gust glared back at Bellamy, Finn shrugged his shoulders with the practice ease that he always seemed to pull out of thin air.

“Those are your boys out there”

Bellamy regained some of his anger, he never did get along with the cheerful boy in front of him.

“What happened out there with them isn’t my fault, if _she_ had listened to what I said, those damn idiots would still be building that stupid wall”

Clarke hissed under her breath rubbing her hands through her matted mane, he wasn’t completely wrong, though she hated to admit it. That didn’t mean that he was completely out of the wrong.

“Please don’t let them hurt me, please Bellamy”

Clarke and the two boys looked at the little problem that caused a big mess, it was hard to see how she was the one to stick Wells in the neck with a stolen knife. Clarke caught the eyes of the other two, they looked just as lost as she felt.

“Ya want a society princess, let’s build one! Bring the girl out!”

Charlotte curled in on herself as Murphy rose his voice again.

“Please don’t” she whimpered.

Bellamy sighed as he crouched down in front of Charlotte, he grabbed her shoulders, voice still laced with uneasy, but it was solid.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay, you got that Charlotte, it’s going to be okay. Just—”

He sighed again looking to Clarke, he had a beseeching stare. Clarke’s glare softened, eyes slightly less harsh, she offered a tentative nod back. They at least agreed on one thing: they needed to get Charlotte out.

Bellamy nodded back, “Just stay with these two. Can you do that for me Charlotte”

The younger girl nodded. There wasn’t much else she could do. There wasn’t much they could do at the moment, they were all playing by ear at this point.

Bellamy nudged the girl towards Finn, before pulling the tent flap back. Bellamy looked back towards Clarke, his mouth hung open as if he was going to say something. Clarke watched him look down, out to the crowd, and then back to her. He closed his mouth with a shake of his head, whatever words were to be said died; he put his hands in his pockets, something crinkled in one of them. Clarke noticed that what ever it was soothed the older male in front of her.

 Bellamy nodded one last time before stepping out of the tent, chin up shoulders back.

Clarke let her eyes linger for a second before looking to Finn who paced behind Charlotte, he shook his head at their current predicament.

“Well, look who’s decided to come out and enjoy the sunshine”

Finn looked locked onto her eyes, his irritation leaking into his irises, no doubt he was just as tired of Murphy as she was.

“Getting real tired of Murphy’s bullshit” he whispered.

Clarke sighed in agreement, catching his pacing shoulder she pointed past Finn to the back of the tent.

“Slip out?”

He grinned grabbing Charlotte’s hand and slowly raised the back of the tent before sticking his head out.

“All clear. I like how you think princess”

Finn pulled the young girl behind him and the two disappeared from Clarke’s sight. She looked back at the sound of fighting, she heard Octavia shout. She moved to make for the tent flap but was dragged by her scruff out under the back of the tent.

She glared up at the arm that was holding her.

Finn shook his head, that boyish grin that curled her insides from time to time was splayed larger than before. Finn pushed her ahead and the two of them snuck Charlotte out.

Murphy’s shouts rung through the whole forests.

“Charlotte, Come out! When I get my hands on you, you’re gonna pay!”

They made their way through a small opening in the fence and snuck out into the wild forests with Murphy’s calls at their back.

 

They ran through the woods till the sun fell and the moon rose high in the abyssal night. There were several close calls with Murphy’s gang, and Finn had to stop Clarke from almost ripping out Charlotte’s throat when the girl started clinging to her.

Wrong choice since Charlotte stuck a knife in Wells’ throat, her newly refound friend, her family. Clarke still hasn’t cooled off from finding out that it was Charlotte, a little girl, who stuck a knife in Wells.

She was still exhausted from the lack of sleep.

Clarke was so lost in thought that she didn’t see the tree in front of her till she slammed into it. Instantly arms wrapped around her shoulders preventing her from any more damage, there was low laughing that she could deal without. She growled quietly at the boy who was steadying her.

“Clarke, that tree didn’t do anything to you and now look at it, it’s half way uprooted. You have an unsurprisingly hard head”

Clarke yanked herself free of Finn’s grasp, rubbing her forehead she looked down. Poor tree actually was bending slightly forward with roots in the air, guess Finn was right, though it was like that from the beginning, probably.

Murphy’s shouts pierced their quiet bubble of mirth.

“Got to admire his dedication” Finn said.

Clarke shook her head; Murphy’s dedication wasn’t on the right thing.

 “Spite will get you far in life”

He rose an eyebrow questioning her cynicism, but Clarke waved him off. Murphy was getting closer,

“We should run”

Finn nodded, “We could do that, but I think my plan might be better”

He kneeled down opening a hatch that she couldn’t see from two feet away. It was more than impressive and even more so pathetic that she didn’t see it.

“Welcome to your temporary home”

They filed in, Clarke couldn’t believe it, the place was an old bunker. It was cleanish, besides the surplus of dust, and supplied, yet…she picked up a picture as Finn tucked in Charlotte.

“What you find there?” Finn asked coming over to the couch.

“They never made it” Clarke passed him the picture as she flopped against a couch that fit snug against the wall; the picture had two figures standing and smiling, one an adult the other a child.

Finn leaned back next to her, “All this preparation to waste. Looks like they weren’t that lucky”

“I don’t know” Clarke said, “They might have been the lucky ones here, they would have gone through all their food or lost their minds, they wouldn’t have survived for more than a few years; so much so that they would open the doors and been dead in a few days, maybe less back in their time. Us on the other hand, it would take us weeks till we rotted off our bones—anyway—what are we going to do with Charlotte? If I hadn’t picked a fight with Murphy, then none of this mess would have happened”

Finn leaned into her side offering warmth, the small comfort was much appreciated after the hellish time they’ve spent surviving on their lost home planet.

“You couldn’t have known things would throw down like they did”

Clarke shook her head thinking back to today’s events, of the innocent little girl tormented to kill, of the hanging of an innocent Murphy (despite being a complete ass that he is, he didn’t deserve to be hanged), of kids so easy to riot for blood as if it was an entertaining past time. She didn’t know things would end up like how they did but…

“Bellamy knew”

Finn groaned at the mention of the other boy’s name. It wasn’t a surprise that the two still haven’t learned to get along, much less become friends, they were far to different from each other. But they all needed to work together if they were to survive, despite their dislike of each other.

He ran a hand through his greasy hair, “Let’s just find a way to help her before we’re killed by Murphy”

Clarke snorted lightly, death was at least one constant in their ever-changing world. She wasn’t sure how much of a comfort that thought brought to her mind though.

 

Clarke stirred from slumber, she didn’t dream, nor did she have a nightmare, she finally had restful sleep. She stretched curling back into the warmth, Clarke felt rough clothe slide against her cheek. She peeked up to see Finn snoozing against her, she smiled at the feeling of peace, she wanted so much just to relax and not worry about anything. No death, no murdering children, no murdering grounders. Did she mention no death.

Clarke slipped off the couch, careful so as not to wake the sleeping boy who made her feel safe and peaceful. She needed to check on Charlotte, despite her initial rage she’s calmed down with the much needed sleep. Clarke understood that the younger girl was having some sort of post-traumatic stress, she of all people understood what could happen when you watch someone you love die right in front of you. The trauma, the nightmares.

Her heart clenched thinking of her father. It would be a scar that would never leave, only fade with time. It still ached to think of her departed father, Clarke moved closer to the bed Charlotte laid upon. Clarke felt her heart hurting for the girl, she had lost both her parents and sent down to Earth to die, at such a young age…Clarke wasn’t that surprised that the girl snapped now that she thought about all the variables.

Clarke peered over the bed, hesitant to disturb the sleeping girl. Only Charlotte wasn’t there anymore, she ripped the covers off and swore. So much for one peaceful night…

“Finn get up, she’s gone”

Clarke looked to the boy who groggily sighed no where near awake. She looked around and took a small box, she peered inside. No valuables, no breakables. She dropped the box.

The loud flat echoing sound of the box hitting the floor jolted Finn from his slumbering mind, she caught his panicked eyes, they were questioning and complaining at the same time.

Got to love the perks of adrenaline.

“We need to move, Charlotte is gone”

Clarke watched his eyes widen more, he nodded following her out. They had to catch her before Murphy or his gang did.

 

The two raced out the bunker and into the woods. It was several long minutes till Finn found a pair of tracks,

“We aren’t the only ones after her”

He shone the light, illuminating the deep impressions of a boot in the mud.

“No! Murphy!”

Clarke surged from her kneeled position, “That’s Charlotte, Murphy has her!”

The two of them sprinted off towards the shouts of the younger girl. Brush and branches broke for them as they tore past. They could hear the shouting and see the flickering of torches being held by Murphy’s gang no doubt.

“Maybe not but I’ll take a few with me!”

She and Finn locked eyes as they ran, both of them knew that infuriating voice, Clarke noted that Finn was just as relieved as she is that he’s here, they could use all the help they could get. Then they broke through the clearing to see Bellamy and Charlotte backed against a ledge that fell away with nothing but the unforgiving ground that opened to catch them.

“Bellamy!” She shouted.

Clarke saw how escalated the situation has become. They were out numbered and between an open chasm and a hard place.

“Stop!” She put herself between Bellamy and Murphy, “This has gone far enough, calm down. We can talk this out”

“I’m tired of listening to you and your stupid mouth, princess!” Murphy snarled.

Murphy lunged at her, pulling her to his chest when she was distracted checking the health of the younger girl.

She shouldn’t have looked away, a sharp cold piece of metal met her neck, Clarke could feel it breach the outer layer of her skin.

Leon growled.

Bellamy moved forward, his teeth barred.

“Let her go, Murphy!”

Murphy’s scrawny form morphed with a growl, his arms elongated, Clarke could feel the cracking of his bones under the boy’s skin. The fingers holding the metal to her neck sharpened into claws, the knife wasn’t the only thing that threatened to pierce her throat now.

Clarke’s heart was already beating fast, it raced harder when she felt the metal and Murphy’s claws dig into her soft under neck. The stench of her blood filled her nose, flooding everything out except for the ozone that gusted from the body that threatened to crush her own.

Bellamy moved Charlotte behind him, his eyes locked with Clarke’s her own. There was fear and anger laced underneath, and something more that she couldn’t decipher.

Bellamy and Finn both took a step closer to the possibly maddening wolf in front of them.

“Move again and I swear I’ll cut open the princess’ neck, then we can see how blue her blood runs!” Murphy snarled.

He increased his hold around Clarke’s throat, more blood ran out. She couldn’t tell if the lightheadedness was from the adrenalin and fear, or if it was from a pocked artery.

Bellamy and Finn stopped looking to each other, they were lost and had no ground against Murphy. It wasn’t looking so good in Clarke’s eyes.

Clarke shifted her forearms ready to break the boy’s arm when Murphy pushed his clawed thumb under the corner of her underjaw. Clarke stilled after feeling her underjaw tear more when she thrashed in the boy’s hold.

Murphy curled the knife into her throat with his other hand while keeping the pressure of his clawed thumb constant.

“Don’t hurt her!”

Everyone turned to the small blonde whose shout echoed over the rockface. Murphy glared at Charlotte, Clarke could feel the boy’s anger radiate from his body.

Murphy cocked his head to the side, teeth set back in a scowl.

“Don’t hurt her you say? Okay, deal time shall we. You come over here and I’ll let the princess go”

Clarke growled deep in her throat, Murphy smirked and leaned closer to her ear for a whisper. Clarke briefly wondered if Murphy would bite through her earlobe or her neck for that matter.

“Careful princess, if I so much as think you try shifting again into that _monster_ …then you’ll be losing a head, and that girl will be next” he said as he pointed a sharp clawed finger toward the small girl shaking behind Bellamy.

They watched Charlotte jolt forward. Bellamy grabbed the small girl that tried to race forward to Clarke’s side,

“No, Charlotte. Don’t!”

Charlotte thrashed in Bellamy’s grip, but she was easily over powered. Bellamy placed her behind himself again as he watched the wolf before him dig his nails further into Clarke. He was starting to feel the panic take over in his blood, something was going to give he knew. The thing was what, would it be Murphy’s anger or Clarke’s neck.

“Bellamy! I have to” Charlotte protested, “I can’t let you guys get hurt, not after what I did to Wells”

Clarke looked at the younger girl who was quaking in fear and guilt. She couldn’t let Charlotte get into Murphy’s grasp, there was no telling what the boy would do. Clarke shook her head, “No Charlotte, don’t. Stay with Bella—ack!”

Murphy dug his other hand back into her abdomen, his nails raking over her skin leaving wet red tracks across her skin. His other thumb pressed deeper into the back of her throat, she felt his claw nick bone.

Clarke’s eyes closed in pain. She did her best not to cry and open her jaw for fear of slicing anything more. Hissing out a pained breath between her teeth she did everything not to shift and rip the boy’s throat out, she wasn’t practiced and besides, she was way to engulfed in an emotional situation not to go mad.

“MURPHY!”

Clarke’s eye flew open at Bellamy’s roar, he was gearing up for a fight, his own beast was staring at her. His stature was growing and stretching, eyes glinting with the promise of blood and maybe more. She wasn’t sure it was Bellamy she was looking at.

Clarke felt herself go numb.

Leon stared back for her.

Neither said anything. They were now just two beasts sizing up one another, yet there didn’t seem to be the normal hostility that their vessels seemed to hold toward each other. Both Leon and Bellamy’s beast receded back into their partners.

No fight, possibly a silent communication. Just a curious look?

Clarke blinked at Bellamy in confusion, what the hell just happened to their beasts. This was neither the time nor the place to play peekaboo.

She ripped her eyes away from Bellamy when she heard a gravely crunch and a hiccup. She locked eyes with Charlotte.

“Charlotte?” she croaked out.

The girl took a step back. Clarke followed the movement with her eyes, she glanced back at the younger girls face and saw the ghosts. She knew what Charlotte was thinking. The despair, the hurt, the pain; being backed up to no good options and no future.

Clarke has the unfortunate experience of seeing this on the Ark, multiple times, she also wasn’t able to prevent some of the people…

“Charlotte don’t do _that_. There is always a way. It’s okay, it was an accident, we’ll work this—NO!”

Clarke watched as Charlotte tipped herself backwards into the dark abyss of the cliff, her stomach fell with the girl.


	25. Singing in the Rain III

Charlotte’s scream broke through the clearing, Murphy let go in shock as if Clarke was a live wire. Everyone just watched the young girl plummet off the edge.

Clarke lunged forward, skidding next to Bellamy, but they were to slow. To far. Charlotte was gone.

“No no no. NO!”

Clarke hit her head against the ground, crying out for the lost girl who was just trying to run from her nightmares, from her reality in which she was damned, from the hurt.

May we meet again.

She felt Bellamy shaking next to her, his panic and horror quickly bled to anger and rage. They stood up, but Bellamy quickly rounded on Murphy who stood dumbfounded with the rest of the audience.

He looked in horror at Bellamy, “Bellamy that wasn’t—ah!”

She watched the older male tackle Murphy to the ground ripping into him with clawed arms, snarling the entire time. Tuffs of bloody fur fluttered in the air like falling feathers.

 A small distant part of her mind registered what Octavia said, when they were attacked by the water creatures not long ago: that Bellamy could control smaller shifts like she could.

It didn’t matter though if he was shifted at all; Bellamy was on a rampage, he didn’t need the strength of his inner beast to kill Murphy, all he needed was his anger and his fists.

“Bellamy, stop! STOP! You’ll kill him” she yelled. Clarke stayed back, knowing that she should interfere, but another part was cautious to the boy who looked like he was going mad. The other part wanting to join in on tearing Murphy apart.

Finn looked back and forth several times as if he was waiting for her to decide whether to let Bellamy continue to beat Murphy before he started pulling an enraged Bellamy away, ducking a clawed hand here or there.

“Get off! The bastard deserves to die!”

Bellamy tossed off Finn but didn’t lunge back at the crumpled wolf boy on the ground, probably because she jumped back in front of the raging male. Bellamy glared her, eyes glinting with hatred and guilt, but most off all pain. He failed. She failed.

They all failed.

“We don’t decide who lives and who dies down here—”

“Damn it!” Bellamy ran a shaking hand through his ruffled hair, his emotions shot in and out of his eyes too quick for there to be any one as a constant, “so help me, if you say that the people have a right to decide…”

“No, I was wrong before” she replied, even to her own ears she could hear the emotional breaks from what just insured.

“You were right, it’s dangerous to tell the truth, but if we are going to _survive_ , down here, then we can’t just go by whatever the hell we want. There has to be some sort of rules”

Bellamy’s glare fell to nothing more than big pleading eyes, his own emotions taking their exhausting toll, his frustration didn’t wean off in the slightest unfortunately.

“And who makes those rules, princess? _You_? Look what happened, how are you going to fix what we—”

Clarke took a step forward till she was almost nose to nose with Bellamy, she had to crain her neck up painfully to reach his eyes. “For now, _we_ make the rules”

Bellamy shook his head, “So we just let him walk back with us and forget _that_ happened” He pointed to where Charlotte fell before pointing to her tattered shirt that was stained with her blood.

His eyes dimed as if he was going to go on another rampage. Instead his voice went quiet and hard,

“Or that he did _that_ to you princess”

By the end his voice was whining at the pain and exhaustion, he looked like he slept even less than she did.

“No!” she looked around for anything that, they shouldn’t kill Murphy, grasping straws Clarke shook her head for inspiration.

“We banish him”

Clarke could see the questioning look that Bellamy shot towards Finn as if the boy was in on some prank and that he was the butt of the joke for, Bellamy must not have seen what he was looking for because he yanked up the bleeding wolf from the ground.

“Bellamy!” She yelled, he had Murphy hanging over the edge of the ledge, she didn’t want to see Bellamy become a murderer. Not now not ever, but she had a feeling they were all going to be tested.

“Stop!” Clarke tried again, to her relief he did. Clarke watched as he shook the boy in his hands before leaning closer.

“If I catch you near camp again then we’ll be having a different conversation right here, got that”

Clarke watched Murphy nodded dazedly, he probably had a concussion, before he was thrown down onto the ground.

Bellamy glared at the delinquents that were huddled and holding torches, branding all their faces into his memory.

“As for you sorry bastards, you can either go back and follow me or you can go with him to die in the woods. It’s your call, choose”

Bellamy shot Clarke one last look filled with too many emotions before storming back towards camp. She watched the kids holding torches jump out of the way before stumbling after Bellamy’s heels.

Clarke took one last look at the boy she just damned before following the rest back, she didn’t know what Murphy’s fate would be, but it wasn’t going to be nice. None of their fates were going to be nice down here.

 

The long trek back to camp was filled with a quietness that bordered around eerie, it seemed that even the bugs were singing lowly for fear of breaking something, or maybe it was their way of mourning for Charlotte.

The four holding torches made a line in front of Bellamy acting as a giant flashlight, however none seemed keen to being close to the still smoldering male, at least going by the ten or so feet ahead they were to Bellamy. And a few tucked tails between legs.

Clarke let out a heavy sigh that turned into a wet cough, Earth might have been their long-lost home that once supported their ancestors but now it was just a wild sarcophagus. It would be their tomb, their resting place that showed more of their true nature than anything else, the unpredictability, the hate, yet it showed the hidden wonders in the deadliness of it all, just like their beasts.

Beautifully ironic.

Clarke knew she lost herself to her thoughts because she ran into something, again. Groaning, she rubbed her face and went to move around the obstacle, that was till said obstacle tugged her back. Clarke instinctively released her claws with a snarled at the…Bellamy?

The boy looked just as startled as she felt, he didn’t relinquish his hold on her forearm though, instead he brought it closer for inspection, running the back of his own clawed fingers gently across the fur that looked almost like a gauntlet on her.

He flicked his eyes to hers, his frown deepening, but it conflicted with the curiosity in his eyes giving him a weird sort of expression. Kind of like he might be constipated.

“What?” she asked, her unheld hand on her hips, they really needed to get back to camp to make sure there weren’t anymore uprisings in their absence, and before grounders saw their lights, they were like a beacon saying ‘please come spear us’.

“Always stiff princess…how can you do that?”

She rose and eyebrow at him “The same way you can do it”

She couldn’t help but point to his own furry arm, the only difference that she could really tell was that instead of the fur stopping just past his elbows like her gauntleted fur his ran up his arms and under his shirt. Well, that and his structure seemed off kilter, he was a bit slimmer around the waste like most wolves with broader shoulders, his hands were elongated too. But there was a off kilter look to his form.

Bellamy didn’t seem to quite follow her for some reason, as if he didn’t believe her or understand what she meant.

“It took me years to do just this much, that” he ran his padded finger across the inside of her arm, humming at the softness.

“It’s something that I should be able to control more firmly in another three to five years if I train constantly…assuming we live that long”

She couldn’t help the snort that escaped her, he was right in that area. They needed to find a way to keep everyone alive till the Ark came down.

“It was the only thing I practiced” Clarke shrugged, technically she wasn’t lying. She only practiced controlling her scent and small shifts, that’s how she started out and because of what she is that was the only thing she could really do. At least till she pushed Leon away completely. While everyone else could control their full or half shifts, she could only control parts of her body which included her scent glands. She was nothing more than a walking hazard in her eyes.

She could feel Lean chuffing in amusement, Clarke felt Leon flexing her fingers.

Clarke frowned, maybe it was because she was so in tuned—was in tuned?—with Leon…she still needed to rekindle her friendship with her beast, they were still far from how close they used to be. And last time they both tried interacting together Leon went left while she went right.

Bellamy eyed her, not completely buying what she said or maybe he was looking for something to distract his thoughts of Charlotte,

“You can ask your sister if you don’t believe me” she offered.

Great, she wanted to smash her head against a tree, go from one landmine to another, at least this one was alive and kicking, probably something hard at the moment if she had to guess.

“O? O, knows about this—wait the expedition”

Clarke smiled to the boy who was trying to wrap his head around the blonde that was in front of him. Bellamy still didn’t know who he was dealing with, sure the princess was a decent doctor or as close to a doctor as they had but…who is she?

She had to be experienced to have the control she did when Atom needed…help. He shook his head; this girl also was the one that proposed banishment. He didn’t know this girl had that much of a dark streak but so fare he seemed to be pegging her wrong half the time. He knew she wasn’t no ordinary privileged.

“What are you?”

The words slipped out before he could tread more lightly, even to his own ears he sounded accusatory. He felt the girl stiffen before ripping her arm out of his hold, her teeth bared back with a glint of moonlight. He didn’t protest and he didn’t step lightly on topics that are held most dear to some people, he knew from experience; he didn’t quite understand why some people refuse to answer _that_ question though, most threw it out into the wind with no coution, but it was their business not his, all he knew now was that the princess was one of the ones who didn’t flaunt what she was.

“None of your damn business” she hissed.

Bellamy took a step back from the venom directed at him, he could see the hairs on the back of her arm bristle in the soft torch light.

He held his hands up to placate the resparked blonde, he didn’t need a powder keg to blow in his face tonight. Again.

“Look princess I was curious you don’t have to answer if it injures you so—fuck”

The glare that was on her face morphed to confusion real quick, Bellamy could have laughed if that movement didn’t cause another drop of blood to fall from her jaw.

For a moment he forgot that Murphy raked his claws across her, Bellamy closed the distance between them before calling for a torch. A kid half his size scurried to his side and held it out as far as he could for fear of being ripped apart by him, or maybe the fiery princess, no doubt.

He lifted the quaking boy’s hands till he had adequate lighting before dragging the blonde closer. Princess didn’t seem to like that and bated his hands away each time he tried getting closer.

He reached while she slapped the top of his hands, he did it again and she slapped him even harder. He reached again with a faint before slapped her hands away, only to find that she flung her arms back up between his and pushed his arms out.

Bellamy held a groan in, she was ridiculous and troublesome.

“Bellamy, what are you doing? Stop! Hey, really stop were acting like kids we need to get back to—”

They probably looked ridiculous fighting with slaps, but he needed to see the extent of her injuries. Bellamy didn’t hold in his net sigh, the princess was way to much trouble right now.

They continued their little slapping dance for some time before his irritation got the best of him.

“Clarke!”

He didn’t know if it was calling her by something other than princess or if it was him yelling in the otherwise dead of night forest where nothing dared to venture, but he got his chance to kneel down and inspect her front.

He gently tugged on her shirt catching her eye to make sure it was okay, he saw her confusion deeper before realization lighted up her eyes. Clarke ripped her own shirt from his grasps and yanked it completely over her head. They saw the scaring that was already starting to form.

Clarke watched as Bellamy glared at her stomach.

“That’s not going to make it go away, besides you did way worse” she joked.

Woops, Clarke could tell that wasn’t the right thing to say, she saw the boy in front of her shoot back onto his feet as if he was going to yell but when she spotted his face he looked more distressed, yup, definitely not the right thing to say at the moment.

She took a step forward and to her relief he didn’t skid away from her, though he wasn’t looking at her and his ears were down twitching slightly.

“Hey, look we got ev—”

“Clarke!”

She turned to a frantic Finn who came from the cover of night. Finn looked between her and the brooding boy in front of her, she watched his frown deepen before stepping between her and Bellamy. She noticed how Finn didn’t have his back to Bellamy in the slightest, she wanted to sigh at the lack of trust, but Clarke knew everyone was raw and shocked at the moment.

There first meeting on the ground didn’t go well, plus the taking over the camp and do what ever the hell we want.

Clarke rubbed her hands over her face in frustration, the grounders weren’t going to kill them. They were going to kill each other be it accident, purpose, or because someone was being overly annoying.

Yeah, great, just how she imagined the ground to be.

She watched Bellamy stomp off in his lopsided gait back toward the camp, she tried to follow but was pulled back once again this time by Finn.

“He’s dangerous” Finn stared deep into her eyes, the frown on his face had lessened but still seeing one on there was heart breaking, he really did have a nice smile.

“Were all dangerous Finn, were criminals”

She grinned up at him hoping the mood would lessen, and he flashed a small one back, but it quickly disappeared again. He must have been feeling just as guilty as she did, all they had to do was watch one girl, in the end they weren’t even able to do even that.

She squeezed his arm in sympathy before hurrying up in stride with Bellamy, Finn had caught up to her and glared at Bellamy before stomping on ahead. Clarke would check on him later to make sure he was okay.

Turning her head, she saw Bellamy shooting glances first at the quickly disappearing Finn then to her face and her stomach, but then to her leg.

So, he did have true remorse about almost taking her leg off, though Clarke had a feeling tonight’s adventure would stain deeper into his memory.

Clarke reached over rubbing the taller boy’s shoulder well more like upper arm he was taller currently; he felt rough and greasy, they all needed a shower, maybe a little leathery on the skin. Durable.

Bellamy didn’t stop walking, but he slowed greatly reliving her legs from the excess strain needed to keep up with him. He reached across with his other arm, squeezing her hand, he offered a small fleeting toothy grin. His smile faded but not completely.

“Time to speak with the populous princess, you with me?”

Clarke nodded, “You and me Blake, the first and last line”

He smirked, “Yeah, last line”

Jumping on a fallen tree she balanced as she looked toward the starry sky,

“Do you think we’ll make it by the time the Ark comes down?”

She looked at Bellamy, their heights more even now. Clarke saw his smile return as he walked next to her, it wasn’t big, nor did it show any of his teeth, but it was bright under the stars.

“Yeah, princess I think we can”

He offered a padded palm, she placed her hand on his and felt him pull it closer once again to look at, he cradled her hand as he dragged his own pads against her smaller ones and let out an amused huff.

“What?” Clarke’s fingers twitched at the unusual attention.

Bellamy just shook his head and lifted arm up to support her little walking charades.

“Nothing princess, just curious”

She snorted but said nothing in favor of balancing on the fallen tree and then rocky boulders, the entire time Bellamy was there, the only guard against her and the forest floor that would leave a mark or two if she fell.

Something wet fell and hit her nose, and then her cheek. Water from the sky, rain. That was one thing she definitely loved about the Earth, even with the wilds and less than friendly neighbors the Earth had a majestic beauty that couldn’t be rivaled…rain was one of those reasons.

Clarke laughed into the rain, she felt guilty about being happy and alive while a little girl had just plummeted to her death, and yet, she couldn’t help but feel released by the falling water.

“Someone’s enjoying their time”

Clarke startled from the unexpected noise, letting out a cry as she fell. She closed her eyes waiting for the unforgiving impact of the ground.

A deep chuckle vibrated through her ear…wait.

“Sorry, princess, didn’t mean to startle you”

Clarke opened an eye to find Bellamy staring down at her, his smile a full mischievous grin now. She slapped his shoulder but laughed none the less.

“Bella—ah!”

Looking down she pulled up the hem of her shirt exposing her scratched stomach, one of the claw marks was torn open again. She involuntary flinched just looking at it, she’d rather have the best immune system than expediated healing, but she didn’t.

She just hoped Murphy had semi clean claws…yeah, she’d need to get something for that.

Groaning she made to pull her shirt down but stopped seeing a furry hand hovering over stomach.

Bellamy gently brushed her hand away to get a better look at the injuries. Clarke was fascinated by how focused he looked, she bit her cheek at the different expressions he made like he was a child that was released into a toy store for the first time.

Bellamy sighed before looking at her, “You’ll need to disinfect that later”

Clarke raised an eyebrow.

“What?” he grumbled.

“I’m the residential doctor of camp, thanks for the concern though”

The older boy snorted, “Witchdoctor more like, you yourself said you didn’t finish with your program”

“But I am the one with any real medical experience”

She felt Bellamy’s sigh ripple through his chest, “I’ll give you that princess, I’ll give you that”

Clarke wiggled in his grasp, hoping to jump down, but instead of bending down to let her go she felt his grip tighten.

“Not today princess”

She struggled more until Bellamy was practically folding her and tucking her into the crook of his arms.

“Bellay!”

“Stop whining princess, this is the only time I’m going to be carrying you around”

“Bella—hrrrgh! Fine!”

Bellamy held her scooped up in his arms and trotted on past the shocked kids holding the torches. Bellamy shoved past, “we don’t have all night to lose, get moving”

A snort escaped from Clarke at seeing the kids skid away from her lumbering taxi. She yawned, all adrenalin escaping her system left her tired and hurting, Bellamy was saying something, but she could only mumble and snuggle into the chest that exuded warmth.

“Hey princess you never answered me. Princess?”

Bellamy looked down at the sleeping blonde in his grasp, there was no anger or fear, but there was a hella lot of exhaustion.

“You’re a lot more peaceful when you’re asleep”

The blonde puffed out a snort and snuggled deeper into him, but she didn’t wake.

“Goodnight princess”

 

She didn’t know how long she slept but when she did wake she was outside of camp. Cliff. Charlotte. Murphy… _Murphy!_

Clarke shot up letting out a hiss, yup the night was one and true, she’d have the scars to prove it.

“Careful princess” drawled a voice.

“Bellamy? What…” She saw his face; all previous mirth was long gone along with his beast.

“Camp announcement?”

Bellamy nodded and placed her on her feet arm still wrapped around her waist. She nodded in thanks and made her way towards the camp with him following close behind. Clarke felt a hand catch her shoulder,

“Don’t forget to have some fun every once in awhile princess, you’ll break otherwise…besides we need some jolly stuff right now”

She nodded, “I’m not the only one who could use a break” she said before entering the camp.

Bellamy and Clarke told of what transpired in the forest, of what happened to Murphy and why, no one dared to question either of their choices in the matter.

 

It was an hour or so later when Bellamy saw Clarke’s retreating form leave camp, knowing her she was getting into trouble. Again.

“Clarke”

She didn’t stop.

He watched the blonde break through the underbrush, easily ducking under branches that threatened to stab his eyes out.

“Clarke!” he hissed, Bellamy couldn’t help the irritated sigh that escaped his clenched jaw.

This girl was going to be the death of him.

It wasn’t till five minutes in did he realize that she was chasing someone. Grounder? Did he need to go and get back up, was the princess even thinking?

Scratch that, she doesn’t tend to think before acting.

Bellamy skid to a halt and ducked when Clarke twisted around, dark shadowed trees closed in around him mocking him, why should he hide from the princess. Berating himself before looking around the tree.

A—nd the princess was gone, of course.

Bellamy could feel a migraine starting to form. Looking around he found no sign of struggle, no blood or misplaced dirt.

So, the princess has the power to vanish.

Bellamy moved forward, double checking for any signs of struggle but found none.

“The hell princess”

He looked around. Nothing.

“Come on Clarke you can’t just van—”

A dull thud sounded under his boot. Bellamy squatted down feeling the ground with the palm of his hand. Cool and smooth.

“I’ll be…”

Bellamy moved back before opening the hatch slightly, to his surprise light shone through the gasp.

“You’re not alone!”

That was definitely the princess.

The voice rose out and for a half second he thought of ripping the door open till he heard Finn. He lifted the door a little more, ready to go down till he saw the two kissing.

Oh.

Bellamy gently closed the lid, certain that the two didn’t see him. He stalked back towards camp not bothering to go around the trees and shrubs he did earlier. Something felt off, but he couldn’t quite put his hand on it, all he knew was that is crawled deeply into his gut before settling heavily

His wolf reared back, causing him to stumble.

“Hey!” he barked, “stop it. The princess is finally loosening up, come on it’s out turn now”

But instead he only received a growl.

Bellamy shook his head he didn’t like Finn that much either but…yeah. He just didn’t like Finn.

“If it keeps the princess busy than it’s all the better”

His wolf didn’t stop growling the whole way back, his wolf reared back several times before he got it back under control.

He didn't feel the rain either.


End file.
